Stereotyping

How many times are you getting dispatched and before the address is complete you already know the patient you're responding to. You can already picture their face, their living room (or street corner), their presentation and even their vitals. You get tunnel-vision.

Other times you get dispatched for the chest pain or difficulty breathing and on arrival you greeted with someone who appears to be having an emotional breakdown. A para-suicide-threatening moment. A psychosomatic anxiety attack. And again... you get tunnel vision.

A dangerous place to be indeed.

So we get called for a 40-yr old woman with chest pain. She's sitting in a chair at the county courthouse after standing in line to pay a ticket, hiding her face behind her large mane of hair. She looks like a model. Tall, thin, dressed to the nines with 3" stilettos. Not saying much of anything, rather letting the first responders answer after long pauses to our questions. I'm getting some tunnel vision. I ask about history. She is as vague as she can be. She thinks she had an MI in the past but doesn't remember. She can't remember anything else she might have. She says she takes meds but can't remember a one. My suspicion of anything serious is diminishing.

I put her on the monitor. Whoa!!!!! Quadrigeminal PVC’s on a NSR with runs of V-Tach. Well darlin, lets get going. We secured a line enroute and was on the apron in just a few minutes. All her other vitals were normal. Come to find another tidbit of information that, I at least, never learned in medic class. Hyperthyroidism causes tachycardia. I had known about hypothyroidism causing bradycardia.... why a=b therefore -a=(-b) didn't connect with me I don't know. I do know. Tunnel vision!!! She had hyperthyroidism and was not taking her meds!

So watch your tunnel vision. From those patients that we'd love to just buy a bus pass for to the atypical presentation. Full assessments folks. It's patient care. You just may be the only person on this world that gives a flying flip enough to respond to their need. Whether it be just some human interaction, a friendly face in their world of despair, or a true call during a life-threatening emergency. Trust me... I need to be reminded of my own advice everyday. Stay safe out there.