Calls worthy of the Darwin Award

[Richard B the EMT]

Not a big problem. It just hit one of my pet peeve, this time the blue furry one.

Just remember that not all agencies or geographic areas use the same initials for something. I recall the laughs an EMT and Certified Public Accountant unintentionally caused, when she posted her ad on the bulletin board for EDP services, meaning Electronic Data Processing, not Emotionally Disturbed Person.

[WolfmanHarris]

HBD is so ubiquitous with EMS, ED and LEO's I thought it was in more common usage than that.

[Richard B the EMT]

It is common enough an error on EMT City to make presumptions like that. On my side of Niagra Falls, I never recall having heard that grouping of letters.

As it is, some here use, interchangably, ER (Emergency Room), and ED (Emergency Department), but ED is also a diagnosis (Erectile Dysfunction).

It is why I have a tendancy to spell out in full what might, or might not, be used outside of New York City, let alone New York State, or the United States in general.

On a different take, is HBD, in your usage, an observation, or restricted to when the patient actually tells you such? Calling a patient "Drunk" has, in US circles, resulted in EMS systems, and their individual employees, being sued in this litigatious society in which I live, for defamation of character, slander, and libel. Not only that, they may be diabetic, with the ketoacidosis on their breath.

We used to be able, in my department, to say AOB, for "Alcohol (smell) On Breath", but now must indicate the patient has a fruity odor on breath. No acronym has yet been developed.

[Kiwiology]

Good on you Richard, its very important we are all on the same page because there are many interchangable and unique medical acronyms that are unique to various parts of the world

[WolfmanHarris]

HBD is interesting, because during the days of the the provincial paper ACR there was a set list of approved acronyms and HBD wasn't one of them, so we used plain language. Now we use siren ePCR and have check boxes for most of our findings and on siren, "intoxication/HBD" is listed under chief complaints, history and a few other places.

In terms of reporting objectively, we have a section under findings for alcohol/drug use which includes: "Pt. admits to alcohol use." "Alcoholic beverages on scene." "Alcohol use reported by other." Similar boxes for drugs. Under scene findings we can select "ETOH like odour." In terms of avoiding litigation though, say from a drunk driver call, these won't do very much, since those calls would mandate an incident report be completed which is entirely narrative.

[thisgirlisamedic]

Having been the youngest for a long time I know how it feels....after turning 30 this last Friday I have been in this field for 10 years, not a long time if you ask me. Yet I still get carded for everything, and still get asked by pts why I'm the one in the back, one guy even asked me when my co. Started hiring teenagers ( a week ago ). Don't get too caught up in the inability to have a drink, as a single mom I rarely get a beer, just a well deserved cup of coffee does me fine... Be happy you have accomplished this at a young age it gives u many years to perfect the art of Omg did that just happen and no matter what the older guys say they have those days too

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk

[Kiwiology]

In terms of avoiding litigation though, say from a drunk driver call, these won't do very much, since those calls would mandate an incident report be completed which is entirely narrative.

Being a Commonwealth nation I was under the impression Canada was a bit more like us or the UK where it's quite difficult if not downright impossible to sue people?

Perhaps I was wrong!

Mind you I also originally thought Kuezbekistan was part of the Canada

[Richard B the EMT]

Canukistan, perhaps? Then, I have heard rumors of a small community in extremely rural northern Canada, called "Itzkoldistan". Or was that in Alaska, or Siberia?

[mikemedic999]

Certain hospitals use "appears ethanolic"

[MetalMedic]

-Responded to a call for a scratch on the toe due to a cat claw. No blood. Yes, we transported.

-Call to a person who is SOB. FD Medic downgrades and reports PT is a smoker. I ask PT what is going on. PT reports: "I smoke too much." Story comes out that PT has been up for 3 hours, had smoked 3+ packs of cigarettes and held the smoke too long (like with weed) and had smoked weed. Triage's response, "Tell the moron to quit smoking."

Edited April 11, 2012 by MetalMedic