a stern talking-to

Last night was the first ACDC concert of the Black Ice Tour. 80,000 people attended. At least 10 of those people ended up in St V's ED; fighting, drinking, falling down and biting each other(!).

Another concert attendee lost her toenail when she smashed into the stage. However, she was not seeing ACDC. She saw Taylor Swift.

I have finished my first round of nightshifts! It is 9:46 am, I have been at work for the last 10 hours and awake for...well. Too long.

I was incredibly lucky in that my Reg (senior doc) was a straight-talking, uninhibited, blue-haired Goddess of Emergency Medicine. I think she should write a book of her teaching catch-phrases. My favourite:

"Don't negotiate with terrorists..."

- patients who are refusing to comply with treatment, taking off their C-spine collars, spitting at the nurses, not taking their meds...

These patients get the patented Reg talking-to. "You are a grown-up. You don't have to be here in the hospital. You are free to leave. If you want medical attention, however, you have to let us do our jobs to the best of our abilities, which means YOU DO AS YOU ARE TOLD."

I had a patient who got drunk and hit her head. She kept taking off her C-spine collar and when I explained the risks to her (spinal cord damage, paralysis, death) she looked me dead in the eye and said, "I'm an alcoholic, I don't care if I die, you're not giving me the (pain medication) treatment I want, so I'm leaving".

I need to work on my stern voice.