Kicking Ourselves: Why didn't we think of this?

 


 

Thom Dick | From the January 2009 Issue | Monday, January 5, 2009


36-year-old psych patient being transferred between facilities shocked her ambulance crew last year when she suddenly unbuckled herself, got off of the cot and exited the rear doors as the vehicle was traveling at freeway speed. She died instantly in front of her horrified husband, who was following in their car.

Nothing in any EMS text had prepared that crew for what their patient did. And nothing could have braced them for the anguish they endured as a result.

These are hard times for psych patients and their EMTs. We


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Related Topics: Patient Care, Vehicle Ops, Jems Tricks of the Trade

 
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Thom Dick

has been involved in EMS for 43 years, 23 of them as a full-time EMT and paramedic in San Diego County. He's currently the quality care coordinator for Platte Valley Ambulance, a hospital-based 9-1-1 system in Brighton, Colo. Contact him at boxcar_414@comcast.net.

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