The fake out or not. Can you tell for sure?

[AnthonyM83]

That's nice that some of you do ALS on her.

We usually get them dumped on us as BLS.

FD tries as hard as possible to prove they're faking. Even when there's nothing to suggest it (other than being young age and Hispanic).

Ex: "She's faking it. Here" (Does Arm Drop. Hits Face)

"Look" (Interdigital Pressure...no response)

"She's faking" (Non-protocol hard pain application...No response)

"Wake up or I'm going to stick a tube up your nose and it's going to hurt. Stop being a little girl" (Sticks NPA in...no flinch)

"That wasn't big enough...." (Grabs biggest size, forces it in...No response, goes right in)

"She sure took that one like a champ... (Sticks in OPA...some flinch, but tolerates it)

"How about this 14-guage" (Not a flinch)

"Hmmm...I think we're going to have to go with her ALS...can't think of anything else"

Later at hospital realize it's an OD. Sigh.

[Michael]

link me to the previous thread referenced in this thread's original post

Le voilà.

[firedoc5]

Wow, great topic! One I've been wanting to discuss.

Could someone link me to the previous thread referenced in this thread's original post (I've been away for a bit).?

:-/

Yeah, Anthony, we had quite a character show up. That's why his topics are now locked. Good move.

I know this is really extreme, but...Had call to the jail of someone having a seizure. Sure enough guy laying on the floor flaying about. We knew him. When my partner Bill went to take his BP he told him, "Stop shaking so I can do this." The guy stops moving his arm, but still keeps the rest of his body moving. We all started laughing so hard it was hard to get him out of the cell.

Have you noticed that a lot of your regular jail call subjects are on meds for seizures? I brought this up to our PMD at the time and he said that so many have had seizures in the past, either from DT's or that they fried so many brain cells that they are at risk for them. And of course, many do fake seizures in hopes of getting Valium or other meds.

As someone else mentioned, always be careful of your "regular" fakers. One day they might not be faking, sort of like calling wolf.

[AnthonyM83]

Yup, jail calls seem to be 50% seizures, 30% chest pain, 20% difficulty breathing....maybe a few others mixed in like sick and trauma (trying to fight jailers).

My favorite ones are the ones that tell me "I'm having a seizure" as they flail about. Sometimes I'll ask "are you having a stroke/seizure/unconscious) and they'll reply "yes".

[fireflymedic]

One word of caution though to the ones saying that all people with seizures lose consciousness - not all do. Certain types such as myoclonic jerks, jacksonian seizures (which may not spread all the way), and partial seizures can cause twitching/shaking to one side or part of the body without a loss of consciousness. The person may be totally aware and telling you "I'm having a seizure". However, most of the people I have found deal with a specific hospital as they are aware of this and are aware that the person isn't faking. It was a good education for me the first time I dealt with a patient like this. I was kinda like, huh, cool !

I'll be first to admit though, many times you can tell the fakers a mile away, but not always. There's alot of people out there fishing for meds, especially in really rural areas like mine (yep, it's the high they don't have to pay for !) or the inner city where people just plain out want drugs, though you could find it anywhere I guess. Most of the people I've found in suburbs asking for pain meds just have quite a low pain tolerance. Amazingly it seems the ones I'd be liberal with pain meds on are the ones that don't request as much - strange eh? Be safe.