Drug-Related Behavioral Issues Pose Health Risks to EMS Providers

Drug-related behavioral outbursts pose health risk to providers You and your partner are dispatched to a restroom in a public park for a 26-year-old unresponsive male. Bystanders had called 9-1-1 after finding the man. On arrival, you initially find "Patient A" obtunded, but he begins to respond as he's moved, so you and your partner can provide medical care. As he becomes more alert, the patient becomes increasingly agitated and aggressive. He begins to intentionally strike his head on the floor, causing his upper lip and mouth to bleed. Attempting to load him onto the stretcher, he bites your partner's finger, causing a rip in his glove and breaking the skin on the finger. Patient "B" You arrive in response to a request by law enforcement officers to treat a 23-year-old male who's in custody and has multiple abrasions from running through the brush, including facial injuries that are actively bleeding. One of the deputies tells you that they'd been called to a domestic disturbance because the patient was aggressive and refusing to leave. "Patient B" was known to regularly smoke spice and had been smoking an unknown substance shortly before 9-1-1 was called. The patient had initially fled from law enforcement and then resisted arrest when he was found in the woods. As you and your partner attempt to render aid, Patient B is still actively shouting, writhing and attempting to break free from his handcuffs. As your partner attempts to assess him, th...
Source: JEMS Operations - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Operations Source Type: news