An Argument With No Clear Winner

“You’re going to the hospital.” “I’m NOT going to the hospital. There’s nothing they’d do and it would cost us thousands of dollars for nothing. Besides … we have to leave. We’re already late.” A husband was attempting to attach the family’s camper onto the trailer hitch of the family’s truck when the trailer slipped. His middle finger didn’t make it out of the way and got caught between the ball of the trailer and the top of the hitch. When family members helped him pull the camper back off of the hitch, they saw a lot of blood. Then the last portion of his middle finger dropped from inside the trailer hitch onto the leaves. “Dammit.” The wife raised her voice. “Get in the truck. We’re going to the hospital.” The husband wrapped his bleeding finger in a Brawny paper towel he had retrieved from inside the camper. He raised his voice louder. “YOU get in the truck. We’re going to the CABIN.” “Paul, don’t be silly. You’re bleeding. The tip of your finger is sitting on the ground. If we get to the hospital quickly, maybe they can reattach it.” “They’re not going to do anything except sew this up and charge us thousands of dollars to do it. I’m NOT going to the hospital. I’ll have Doc Welby call me in a prescription for antibiotics. We can pick it up on the way out of town.” So the patient shows up in triage with a blood soaked paper towel wrapped around his finger. It was obvious that he’d rather be about anywhere else...
Source: WhiteCoat's Call Room - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Patient Encounters Source Type: blogs