Not a week goes by that we don’t get an emergency call from you claiming you are having chest pain. We’re obligated to respond to the call, and each and every time we get there you waste our time. We’ve told you that you are not having a heart attack, we’ve suggested you contact your doctor and make an appointment for a stress test, or even get a physical. When you complain about that we offer to take you to the hospital if you still think you are having a heart attack, but you decline and say you’d rather spend the money on other things. The main cause of your ‘chest pain’ might have something to do with all those pizza boxes stacked near the backdoor. You obviously live a very lonely and sedentary lifestyle. You’re wasting our health care resources when there are people in this city who have serious medical conditions. Quit being a fucking useless slob, or at least do us all a favour and have a real heart attack that we can deal with. —Paramedic
This article appears in Jun 9-15, 2011.
Excuse me, you are a paramedic! How dare you complain about one of your calls on this site! Not very professional at all. I am so disgusted. Maybe you should look for a different line of work, like flipping burgers @ Rotten Ronnie’s.
they are venting about someone abusing the system and possibly putting someone life (even yours) at risk because they might have to wait for emergency services…… they didn’t name names…. and while it might have been better not to post, if they did its only because they are super frustrated. they see crazy ridiculous stuff every day that is way more gossip-worthy than someone abusing our services.
NSGurl sounds like she really REALLY needs to get laid.
Chill the fuck out, bitch. If you’re too stupid to get the point of the bitch then go eat shit.
Make sure the frequent liar has signed his organ donor card for when he does the legit toe curl.
Paramedic, I can understand why the patient in question would have anxiety about going to the hospital in the ambulence mostly due to the outragous cost. If the issue is truly pressing though he should have complied. If the patient is experiencing chest pain multiple times perhaps there could be something wrong, maybe not physically but it could be a mental situation and even though its the patients responsibility to carry through with treatment beyond emergency services, perhaps they are so introverted they arn’t sure how to do it (speaking from your assesment of the living situation)..next time they do it why don’t you suggest him calling the Mental Health Mobile Service Team (M.H.M.S.T-http://www.halifax.ca/police/MentalHealthMobileCrisisTeam.html) or even social services.
I dont agree with your assesment that the patient is wasting our health care resources though. If there is a health issue of a pressing matter as an paramedic your job is to assist to the best of your ability; that patient has every right to be concerned about their wellbeing and you have no right to discrimate based on the seriousness of the condition (one persons mountian is another persons molehill). Your getting payed regardless. As a health care professional arn’t you suppose to be compasionate?
Wishing someone to have a heart attack is a bit harsh; I for one hope that if I ever have to call 9-1-1 they don’t send me someone like you. Perhaps you need to change careers.
Introversion is no excuse for not knowing how to get themselves to a walk in clinic, DD.
This has nothing to do with you DD, just something that always irked me is how people use mental illness as an excuse for EVERYTHING. Not all mentally ill people do this, but I know quite a few who treat those around them like shit and blame their mental illness all the while doing nothing to help themselves. It doesn’t take that much effort to go to your GP or a walk in clinic and say “I think I need a referral to capital health mental health services.” No, they’d rather sit in a pool of their own pity and play the ‘poor me’ game.
Trust me, I have GAD, and while my anxiety manifests itself in extreme pissiness, at my most anxious, i will NEVER treat someone like a piece of shit and be all “I’m anxious, yo, that’s why I can verbally abuse you and it’s ok!”
In any event — DD, someone’s ‘mountain’ (which is really a ‘mole hill’) could wind up costing someone else their LIFE. You don’t call 911 for an ambulance unless it’s for some serious shit and I can’t help but wonder if the person OP’s talking about is someone who goes to outpatients when they have the sniffles.
There ARE people who do that, you know.
Actually F.E.W.R.K introversion can be a big reason why that person can’t go to a walk-in clinic, ever heard of Social phobia? Social Anxiety?
I can undrrstand your frustration but when it comes to capitol health and the mental health system it’s really not as easy as you think. There are a lot of steps to get to the right person, and to seek the proper treatment. It can also be extremely taxing and exausting to get a good answer from a proper professional. It takes months and sometimes even years to get anywhere.
G.A.D is a very common disorder and there are varying levels of it. So you are not alone. But what you need to realize is that when someone is having a panic attack, or they are in a state of emoutional/metal distress there is often no ability to rationalize anything. Some people experience what you described, other people display other symptoms which cause a whole world of different types of anxiety, and ocd.
I’m not saying there are not people who abuse the system, because I see it every day but until you get to the route of the issue there is no way of determining what the true underlying cause is.
DD — I know what you’re saying all too well, but the fact is, those with mental illness have to start finding ways to cope with their disorders if they have any hope of getting better.
What I’m saying, really, is that I see way too many people using their illness as a crutch and to explain bad behaviour when they have no intentions of helping themselves and I see those around them taking more shit off of them than they should. My GAD has been treated for the past 8 years and as such i have developed ways of dealing with times of high anxiety as to not be abusive to those around me.
I realize treatment isn’t easy and access to it is even harder, but if I can get my shit together and seek treatment and work my ass off to get things under control, I’m sure anyone can.
Those who sit on their asses and complain about their illness and use that illness as an excuse to treat those around them like crap are the ones who piss me off.
i know paramedics and mail carriers. who makes more? who do you need more?
People who abuse the health care system should pay higher taxes.