I can totally get this....from a family member.... EMS is entry level - as long as you can pass the exam and do the practical tasks, you get the credential. To be fair, some of the medical notes are pretty scattershot nonsensical ones. At least this one does not completely contradict itself in 3 lines.
This actually happened to me last week. Turns out she accidentally ODed on blood pressure meds. Definitely not normal. (She's okay, but spent a night in the ER.)
She wasn't getting up when he told her to get up, and she wasn't getting up when we told her, too, either. And, she wasn't saying she'd fallen and she couldn't get up. It wasn't normal so we took her in.
As someone in EMS, I have to push back on this. EMS providers are in this weird place where they have the downsides of both being first responders and medical providers, without the upsides of either. Providers effectively answer to management, billing, and their medical command physician, all of which come back with inconsistent, incompatible and sometimes incoherent demands. This is the kind of note which likely comes from billing.
Someone who is like this chronically wouldn't be classified as an emergency and so would not justify an ambulance transport. Under Medicare rules, EMS providers aren't considered medical providers, but medical suppliers. We're treated about the same way as Wilford Brimley. bringing diabeetus supplies to your door, possibly at no cost to you! Thus our own judgement isn't always considered sufficient, and we don't have an existing history with the patient that we can use as a baseline. So we document what the family says.
Maybe she just got tired of faking?
ReplyDeleteI QA EMS charts and confirm everyday that the acronym EMS stands for Earn Money Sleeping...
ReplyDeleteWhich part is not normal?
ReplyDelete@ndenmunz
ReplyDeleteCan't be the wife not responding to commands, that is absolutely normal.
Sit, Ubu. Sit!
ReplyDeleteLOL Love it.
ReplyDelete"...except on weekends."
ReplyDeleteI can totally get this....from a family member....
ReplyDeleteEMS is entry level - as long as you can pass the exam and do the practical tasks, you get the credential.
To be fair, some of the medical notes are pretty scattershot nonsensical ones. At least this one does not completely contradict itself in 3 lines.
This actually happened to me last week. Turns out she accidentally ODed on blood pressure meds. Definitely not normal. (She's okay, but spent a night in the ER.)
ReplyDeleteShe wasn't getting up when he told her to get up, and she wasn't getting up when we told her, too, either. And, she wasn't saying she'd fallen and she couldn't get up. It wasn't normal so we took her in.
ReplyDeleteAs someone in EMS, I have to push back on this. EMS providers are in this weird place where they have the downsides of both being first responders and medical providers, without the upsides of either. Providers effectively answer to management, billing, and their medical command physician, all of which come back with inconsistent, incompatible and sometimes incoherent demands. This is the kind of note which likely comes from billing.
ReplyDeleteSomeone who is like this chronically wouldn't be classified as an emergency and so would not justify an ambulance transport. Under Medicare rules, EMS providers aren't considered medical providers, but medical suppliers. We're treated about the same way as Wilford Brimley. bringing diabeetus supplies to your door, possibly at no cost to you! Thus our own judgement isn't always considered sufficient, and we don't have an existing history with the patient that we can use as a baseline. So we document what the family says.