Do you ever
SAVE THE STUPID?
What is this? No, we’re not calling anyone stupid. So many accidents and medical issues are caused by, simply stated, the stupid things people do everyday to themselves and others. We acknowledge it’s your job to save them, even when they’re, well…just plain stupid. We’ve heard some pretty funny stories from our customers and witnessed some ourselves as emergency response professionals. This field is filled with frightening and sometimes heartbreaking outcomes everyday... and we all just need to laugh sometimes.
Save The Stupid was created as a way to share stories we’ve come across that make us laugh out loud. Each month we will read your stories, laugh out loud, and choose the one that makes the tears flow like Niagra Falls. A prize pack will be awarded each month to the best Save the Stupid story. Be sure to check our website often for some hilarity and to see if you or someone you know is our winner!
Note: Please be sure to omit all patient identifiers before sending us your stories. Also, don’t forget to tell us if you would like to be identified by name or listed by title and state (i.e. Paramedic, North Carolina) in case we post your story.
The judges have read all entries submitted, laughed out loud (LOL), and the winner is . . .
MAY 2011 WINNER - Law Abiding Citizen! by Dave A, Delaware
Just got into work and got sent out for a overdose. Not an uncommon call for any of us and it was for possible heroin which we were seeing an increase of at the time. I had a student with me and we had just had a call like this the other day so I figured this one should be easy. We arrived and found several police officers and first responders with the patient. The police said that they found him slumped over the wheel in his car and was very hard to wake up. After some questioning of the now alert patient, it appeared that he had used narcotics several times through the day and also took too many prescription medications. During our transport to the hospital my student asked "Sir, why did you pull over to the side of the road?" To which he responded, " I had to make a cell phone call and did not want to get a ticket." What a considerate law abiding citizen!!!!!
MAY 2010 WINNER - Can I get a 4 x 4? by Lee D., North Carolina
Hey u guys, I have saved the stoopid. In this case though, it wasn't my patient but a First Responder on scene. I really didn't save him other than not beating him or embarrassing him to death!
I was dispatched to a high school with a reported syncope in the school's cafeteria. I arrived on scene and as a young and slightly cocky medic I strutted in with no equipment. It was just syncope right? No need for equipment! Perhaps I was also one of the stupid ones.
I found a teenage patient who had passed out in line, fell striking her head, and had regained consciousness prior to my arrival. She was without complaint other than a laceration to her scalp. Like most scalp wounds it was bleeding just enough to freak out the cafeteria staff & other students but was otherwise no big deal.
She was refusing care (not that it mattered with a minor). Until we could contact her parents or otherwise package her up I wanted to clean up some of the blood and dress the wound. I looked up to find a fire department first responder standing there wide-eyed and ready to help. He was a great guy that everybody liked but sometimes I wondered about him. I looked up and asked him to go out and get some wet 4 x 4's for me. Off he ran.
I wondered what was taking so long. Eventually here he came. He came running in with a long piece of wood. He said, "I went over to the carpentry shop and got a 4x4 and wet it the best I could for you".
Honestly, what do you say at a moment like that? I thanked him and sent my partner out to the truck to get the immobilization equipment, stretcher, and trauma bag. I never corrected the first responder. I just let it go because it was just too funny. I cleared the scene and left a wet piece of wood in the cafeteria. Yes, it really happened as hard as it is to believe!
