Introduction to my life in the Emergency Rooms
My second career was in the Emergency Rooms of two different local hospitals. This is a series of blogs about patients and co-workers during that time.
Case of the SUMMER SAUSAGE GUY:
The ambulance called to let us know they were in route with a patient they had picked up downtown in a popular bar.
This patient was a male approximately 25 years old, not fully conscious and aware, yet combative. That usually means they probably have some kind of drugs in their system. Often these cases call for “all hands on deck” just to get them calmed and settled. The ambulance was expected to arrive in 8 minutes.
They came bursting through the doors pushing a gurney with a muscular, tan, very combative young man who was flailing about like someone who was drowning and fighting to get a breath.
We all stepped over as he was lifted onto our ER gurney by the ambulance personnel and the male nurses on duty. The next step was to contain him and control him as we cut off his clothing and began the assessment. I was holding down his left leg. The charge nurse got the scissors and began to cut his pants off. We stood there restraining this man as best we could and I remember hoping that he was going to be ok. He was so young.
I looked over at one of my favorite co-worker friends as she grappled with this young patient. Then I looked over to my buddy, a male nurse, named Charlie and he smiled as he loved anything exciting or challenging and this looked to be a good one.
Suddenly, there it was! We all leaned over a bit for a closer look and could not believe we were seeing what we were seeing. There was a large summer sausage duct taped to this man’s inner thigh. It was at least 12 inches long and had a wide girth. Charlie looked at me and I thought he was going to burst out laughing any moment. I elbowed him and shook my head no. He made not a sound but made plenty of expressions that were easily read.
The nurse who had cut the clothing off, starred at this summer sausage that was oddly clinging to our patient's inner thigh, she was frozen for a second. Then she just reached over and sliced the strips of duct tape and removed the sausage. It was placed in a plastic hospital bag, along with the now destroyed clothing he had been wearing moments earlier.
Once the patient was settled in and asleep, we waited for the drug screen results and tried to imagine what the reasoning was for Mr. Summer Sausage to do such a thing. Charlie said that maybe he was planning a late night picnic after he left the bar. Another nurse guessed that he probably gets the munchies late at night and keeps food handy at all times.
Hours passed by and many more patients came and went. Then I looked up and saw the eyes of Summer Sausage guy, opening slightly. Next he looked around, then his eyes opened WIDELY and his hand slowly reached for his thigh in search of his sausage. When he realized it was not there, his face turned blood red and he covered it with his hands. I walked down the hall to locate his assigned nurse. I told her he was awake and he had searched for his sausage to no avail. She said, with a giggle, “Maybe he’s hungry for his sausage, I will go and check on him.”
My thoughts on this man are that he was trying to impress a young lady so that she might come home with him. This method would only lead to disappointments later, so it was not a wise decision any way you looked at it.
No comments:
Post a Comment