Up and Coming

Hello Redwood's Fans!

First of all-- Happy Mother's Day to all those fantastic, amazing women who are mothers and a big shout out to my own mom for all the love, attention, and care you gave me to help me become the adult I am today. I see your influence in how I raise my own girls and it is a good thing!

And for everyone else-- please, pick up that phone and call your mom. From my years of working in the ER-- none of us truly know how many days we have left so take time and appreciate your loved ones while you have them.

For you this week.

This week on Redwood's Medical Edge is all about toxicology. How do we in the medical profession treat a patient who ingested something but they can't or won't tell us what they took? In these posts, I give you guidance on how we approach this medically and what treatments are instituted for common drugs of overdose.

Hope you have a GREAT week.

Jordyn

Are ED Patients Selfish?

I recently came across this satirical piece about an ER physician that conducted a study about how selfish ED patients were. 

When I first read it, I didn't think it was a joke but actual research. When I read further and figured it was a humor based website-- I was a little disappointed. 

Why? Because the article validated what I feel like at work many days. Parents of patients have a limited view of the total department and its needs or demands on my time. They simply want their problem fixed as immediately as possible.

The problem is, the reality of the ER will never meet those expectations of . . . really anyone. 

How often have you had to wait for a doctor's appointment? That is, an actual scheduled time to meet with your physician. Rarely, am I seen within 30 minutes by the actual doctor. First, the office schedules you before your "real" time for paperwork, etc and also for the hope that you'll show up on time for the actual appointment time even if you're running late.

Did that make sense? 

My point is . . . why has it become the expectation that emergency care means you'll be seen expeditiously? I'll be the first to say that we've not helped ourselves as emergency care providers in this arena. I actually think posting wait times (like a restaurant) feeds into this idea that you'll be seen upon arrival. 

Our goal is to save the sickest people first. That means we may not see you in order. That means we may not get to you in the hour you've allotted for your emergency care to take place. 

In my experience, most patients want to be seen by the provider within fifteen minutes of arrival and discharged home in sixty minutes. 

Once, when I worked in a dedicated urgent care, we had a sick infant come in who needed to be intubated. When explaining to families why there was a delay, someone actually said, "That doesn't mean we should wait. That family should have gone to the ER."

That may be true but now they're here . . . with us . . . and we have to manage their illness. 

I'm not sure what the answer is. How do we make your ER visit more enjoyable? More timely yet still cost effective? Isn't that the crux of the problem? You're coming with a problem to be solved and a time frame in mind.

Just what if we can't fix either? Is it our fault?

Curious to know what you think. 

What is Slimming?

You may think the word "slimming" has everything to do with weight loss. In this instance, you would be wrong. One thing I've learned from working with teens in the pediatric ER is that they are very inventive in discovering ways of getting high and/or drunk.

Slimming is one of them. Sadly, this is joke.

Slimming, in this instance, refers to inserting alcohol soaked tampons (usually vodka) to become intoxicated without having the smell of booze on your breath.

And just so the guys don't feel left out-- they've been known to insert them into their rectums.

The vaginal and rectal mucosa can be great ways to deliver drugs. These areas can absorb drugs very rapidly. The problem becomes when multiple sources are used to imbibe the alcohol.

If you are "slimming" as well as orally taking in alcohol-- alcohol poisoning can happen very quickly. One case presented by a physician reported a teen with a blood alcohol level of 0.5. That's high people-- particularly if you are "naive" to alcohol and haven't built up a resistance.

Other ways teens are getting drunk?

A "butt chug" which is a beer bong inserted rectally.

Soaking gummy bears in alcohol.

Eyeball shots-- pouring liquor into your eye sockets. Again, to have the alcohol absorb more quickly.

And lastly-- drinking hand sanitizer. In one episode of Intervention, an episode highlighted someone in the hospital lapping up the foam for just this reason.

These are dangerous practices and parents should be aware.

Up and Coming

Hello Redwood's Fans!

How has your week been? Mine? Just wrapped up entering Round 2 of Love Inspired's Blurb to Book Contest. Now, the wait is on until May 15th to see if I'll progress to Round 3. For this round, entrants had to submit a plot synopsis (which I DO hate writing) and the first three chapters.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

If I go on, I'll have to finish the manuscript in eight weeks which is writing another fifty-thousand words. So I guess in that sense it's like NaNoWriMo light.

The WINNER of last week's contest is Dana M.! Congratulations on winning a copy of The Shepherd's Song and thanks also to Betsy Duffey and Laurie Myers for guest blogging last week. I found it to be truly valuable information for authors.

Dana-- e-mail me at jredwood1 @ gmail dot com and I'll get your prize in the mail!

For you this week.

Tuesday: What exactly is slimming? Hint-- it has nothing to do with weight loss. If you're a parent of a teen or looking for a devious way to poison a character in your novel-- this post is for you.

Thursday: Are ED patients selfish? Tune in for some insider thoughts from the front lines of the emergency department.

Have a great week!