A patient actually told my partner and I this very thing tonight. Funny, yeah actually hilarious, but sad too, as this person was in serious psychiatric trouble. I've seen a lot of drunks and a lot of fakers, but this person was 100% out there. I hope they can find someway to help this person. All we could do was try to keep this person from hurting them self, even going so far as discussing restraints with medical control (CYA baby!).
Really got me thinking (actually ironically I was thinking of this very thing earlier today and this call reinforces it). What training do we as EMTs get for patients with behavioral or psychiatric problems? I don't remember getting much if anything in my B class, a bit in one chapter of the book, and my Intermediate class touched on it, but not really. How about a training or a class or something that we can get a foothold on better managing these types of calls. I mean, if its not some fancy new ALS thing are we not interested? Holding a hand and listening is sometimes all we can do, and really the best care for the patient. I mean a lot of us are pretty good at this sort of thing naturally, I think it contributed to our initial interest in becoming EMTs in the first place. But I'd like to learn more. I know I do my share of calls that have a "behavioral issue" component.
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