I'm not even going to use an alias for my work colleague on this one, just the name 'Partner'. This has been a difficult post to write and I hope it comes across the way I intend.
We pulled up on the street, the RRU already there. The street was made up of pebble dashed council flats with unkept gardens with wrecked, gutted cars in the driveways. The look on Partner's face read "well this is pish" and the heavy sigh backed it up.
We entered the living room to find the mother and sister of our patient on the sofa looking concerned while the RRU driver hooked up the teenage girl to check her vitals. The girl was stick thin with a tear and mascara stained face. The story was a bit of a mess, the patient had come home from her boyfriends parent's house extremely upset attempted to self harm and fainted. The family reported that she had been fitting and that she had been suffering depression and self harm attempts since her boyfriend went into jail for a serious violent crime that she had witnessed.
We got the patient into the ambulance, her sister asked if she would receive psychiatric help, I said I wasn't sure but if they couldn't sort something at the hospital they should go to her GP as soon as possible to get the help she needed. Physically she was ok, it was a faint and the attempts she had made on her wrists were not serious as the family had taken the knife from her.
Now this is where I started getting annoyed, 'Partner's' attitude hadn't improved, it was obvious his judgement of what we were going to attend had been confirmed and this was a silly little girl who had faked a fit. Now I had been listening to exactly the same information as him and even while I was driving I could feel my anger boiling up. His questioning was inappropriate and was bordering on offensive, he was making it blatantly obvious that he didn't believe a word this girl said and that it was another attention seeker wasting our time.
At the hospital I opened the doors to find her angry and upset "he thinks I'm lying, he doesn't believe me"
Now no matter what our own opinions a patient who needs help, be it medical or psychiatric, should not feel that level of distrust and dissappointment in us.
I took the patient in while Partner was filling in the last of the report form. I sat her down and I set her straight.
"It doesn't matter whether he believes you or not, ignore him. The question is do you understand that you need help?"
A nod
"And will you take help when its offered to you?"
A shrug
"Ok, look at me................ this (pointing to the self harm scars on her wrists) doesn't work, trust me, been there done that, and it doesn't help. You are young and yes you've been through something horrible things but if you get the help now, with the family that obviously care about you, then you'll be fine. And it certainly doesn't matter whether he believes you or not. Ok?"
She starred at me as if trying to work out whether or not I was taking the piss before nodding.
On returning to the vehicle Partner started tutting and using phrases like 'attention seeking' and 'skank'. He realised I was very quiet (Unusual for me! I was quietly seething behind the white knuckle gripped steering wheel) before asking me "don't you think she was just attention seeking?"
"I think............ if you witnessed what she had witnessed at that age and then dealt with the crap afterwards you'd be more than a little messed up. And if by attention seeking you mean a cry for help then I guess I do, but thats a matter of opinion in statement isn't it"
His reply.............."I guess"
I know I'm new to this job and I don't want readers thinking that I'm so naive that I'm going to peep talk every patient who has a blip in their lives. But I like to think I can tell the difference between the people who are taking the piss and those who really need help.
I have, and hope I will always have, the attitude that every patient deserves the same non-judgemental approach and attitude no matter what their problem. If it becomes apparent that they are less than genuine this can be dealt with.
I don't believe a persons home, appearance or social situation should dictate the level of care they receive from me............if they need treatment they will get it.
I'm no angel, I trip up and I'm just as guilt as Partner was that day of making judgements...........
but I hope I am never in a position where I actually project that judgement onto my treatment and care of a patient.
Call me idealistic, tell me to spend longer in the job but I hope my personality will save me from being 'one of those' ambulance people who tuts and sighs at every job in a certain neighbourhood.
The reality of the matter is that we deal with more mental health issues than trauma, therefore we need to be just as prepared for this. Being prepared means being open to listen, and not judge.
We pulled up on the street, the RRU already there. The street was made up of pebble dashed council flats with unkept gardens with wrecked, gutted cars in the driveways. The look on Partner's face read "well this is pish" and the heavy sigh backed it up.
We entered the living room to find the mother and sister of our patient on the sofa looking concerned while the RRU driver hooked up the teenage girl to check her vitals. The girl was stick thin with a tear and mascara stained face. The story was a bit of a mess, the patient had come home from her boyfriends parent's house extremely upset attempted to self harm and fainted. The family reported that she had been fitting and that she had been suffering depression and self harm attempts since her boyfriend went into jail for a serious violent crime that she had witnessed.
We got the patient into the ambulance, her sister asked if she would receive psychiatric help, I said I wasn't sure but if they couldn't sort something at the hospital they should go to her GP as soon as possible to get the help she needed. Physically she was ok, it was a faint and the attempts she had made on her wrists were not serious as the family had taken the knife from her.
Now this is where I started getting annoyed, 'Partner's' attitude hadn't improved, it was obvious his judgement of what we were going to attend had been confirmed and this was a silly little girl who had faked a fit. Now I had been listening to exactly the same information as him and even while I was driving I could feel my anger boiling up. His questioning was inappropriate and was bordering on offensive, he was making it blatantly obvious that he didn't believe a word this girl said and that it was another attention seeker wasting our time.
At the hospital I opened the doors to find her angry and upset "he thinks I'm lying, he doesn't believe me"
Now no matter what our own opinions a patient who needs help, be it medical or psychiatric, should not feel that level of distrust and dissappointment in us.
I took the patient in while Partner was filling in the last of the report form. I sat her down and I set her straight.
"It doesn't matter whether he believes you or not, ignore him. The question is do you understand that you need help?"
A nod
"And will you take help when its offered to you?"
A shrug
"Ok, look at me................ this (pointing to the self harm scars on her wrists) doesn't work, trust me, been there done that, and it doesn't help. You are young and yes you've been through something horrible things but if you get the help now, with the family that obviously care about you, then you'll be fine. And it certainly doesn't matter whether he believes you or not. Ok?"
She starred at me as if trying to work out whether or not I was taking the piss before nodding.
On returning to the vehicle Partner started tutting and using phrases like 'attention seeking' and 'skank'. He realised I was very quiet (Unusual for me! I was quietly seething behind the white knuckle gripped steering wheel) before asking me "don't you think she was just attention seeking?"
"I think............ if you witnessed what she had witnessed at that age and then dealt with the crap afterwards you'd be more than a little messed up. And if by attention seeking you mean a cry for help then I guess I do, but thats a matter of opinion in statement isn't it"
His reply.............."I guess"
I know I'm new to this job and I don't want readers thinking that I'm so naive that I'm going to peep talk every patient who has a blip in their lives. But I like to think I can tell the difference between the people who are taking the piss and those who really need help.
I have, and hope I will always have, the attitude that every patient deserves the same non-judgemental approach and attitude no matter what their problem. If it becomes apparent that they are less than genuine this can be dealt with.
I don't believe a persons home, appearance or social situation should dictate the level of care they receive from me............if they need treatment they will get it.
I'm no angel, I trip up and I'm just as guilt as Partner was that day of making judgements...........
but I hope I am never in a position where I actually project that judgement onto my treatment and care of a patient.
Call me idealistic, tell me to spend longer in the job but I hope my personality will save me from being 'one of those' ambulance people who tuts and sighs at every job in a certain neighbourhood.
The reality of the matter is that we deal with more mental health issues than trauma, therefore we need to be just as prepared for this. Being prepared means being open to listen, and not judge.