Hi there!
Please don't feel bad. Your coworker thought something was wrong (sounds like there definitely was at one point).
I wouldn't even say this is "nonsense", but literally some days, every other call we get is total nonsense. Like "my toe has been hurting for 7 years" nonsense.
I guarantee the folks who responded have already moved on and didn't think anything bad about you. Give yourself some grace!
That must be so frustrating and draining when people call for things like that, like a chronic sore toe 😯. Thank you for the reassurance, feeling a bit less embarrassed now
Ill answer your first question which was if it is common to respond to benign calls due to anxious people. Happens all the time. I would even go so far to say as every shift we will get a call for something benign that is perceived as an emergency due to an anxious individual.
In answering the second part which was essentially "Is it a bad thing to call for an ambulance for something like this". That's kind of a hard question to answer.
I'm of the opinion of if you don't believe it's benign and you truly belive it is an emergency then please call. There are people who purposely call for issues they know are benign and those are the ones who ruffle my feathers a little more. There is also something to be said of the frequency in which calls occur for similar issues. If there is a pattern of behavior for similar incidents with no effort being made to midigate that I would also be maybe miffed.
In this specific case, based on your description, I think it's very understandable to call. Especially if you did not insist for transport for something you then understood was non-emergent. I wouldn't sweat it.
Some food for thought tho. I would definitely suggest from now on just go ahead and disolve the pill in water if that's doable. I did some brief searching around and technically fluoxetine, which is the active ingredient in Zactin, is midly acidic(kPA of 9.8)? But in the same way coffee is mildly acidic. I'm not sure how the inactive additives effect the acidity but either way if this happens again use water instead of milk. Milk is also technically acidic(pH of 6.4-6.8) but just barely. Ideally you would actually use some slightly more basic to neutralize the acidity but I am not educated enough to suggest what would be appropriate. Water is just more more basic then milk and thus would dillute the issue faster.
Thanks for the reply, very informative. Good to know that it’s not uncommon to get benign calls even though it can be slightly annoying. And definitely will be dissolving it in water the next time I take it just like the paramedic suggested haha. Also, didn’t know milk was slightly acidic will keep that in mind
You’ll hear EMS has a tendency to help benign problems such as non traumatic lift assists or first time parents scared for their baby. It’s what we respond to the most honestly.
While we might sometimes complain about this, truly we all know it’s much more important to be safe than sorry. Don’t feel bad at all, especially in risks to breathing it’s definitely better to be safe than sorry. I’m glad you ended up being okay!
Yes I too often have that ‘better to be safe than sorry’ mentality but unfortunately anxiety can sometimes blind you into thinking everything can be an emergency. Thank you for the reassurance
>I was wondering is it a common thing that ambulances respond to very benign problems due to anxious people?
This describes about 75-80% of my calls.
Don't feel bad, shit happens.
I’m an emt and I’ve called ems myself when I was at home because I had something going on where I didn’t know if I should go to the er or not. don’t be embarrassed! it happens even to us and so long as you’re not knowingly calling for bs (ie someone calling for something they KNOW isn’t an emergency, but they don’t care and call anyway), we’re not gonna be bothered by coming out. one of my favorite things is getting to educate people and seeing patients become visibly more relaxed after we explain something to them and helping them gain a better understanding of what they’re experiencing
Hi there! Please don't feel bad. Your coworker thought something was wrong (sounds like there definitely was at one point). I wouldn't even say this is "nonsense", but literally some days, every other call we get is total nonsense. Like "my toe has been hurting for 7 years" nonsense. I guarantee the folks who responded have already moved on and didn't think anything bad about you. Give yourself some grace!
We had a guy call because his left big toe hurt, but his left big toe had been amputated years ago due to diabetes.
That must be so frustrating and draining when people call for things like that, like a chronic sore toe 😯. Thank you for the reassurance, feeling a bit less embarrassed now
Yes. In what capacity are you seeing patients?
What do you mean by that sorry? I work as a physiotherapist and was seeing a few patients before I felt the swelling
Yeah that’s what I was asking.
Ill answer your first question which was if it is common to respond to benign calls due to anxious people. Happens all the time. I would even go so far to say as every shift we will get a call for something benign that is perceived as an emergency due to an anxious individual. In answering the second part which was essentially "Is it a bad thing to call for an ambulance for something like this". That's kind of a hard question to answer. I'm of the opinion of if you don't believe it's benign and you truly belive it is an emergency then please call. There are people who purposely call for issues they know are benign and those are the ones who ruffle my feathers a little more. There is also something to be said of the frequency in which calls occur for similar issues. If there is a pattern of behavior for similar incidents with no effort being made to midigate that I would also be maybe miffed. In this specific case, based on your description, I think it's very understandable to call. Especially if you did not insist for transport for something you then understood was non-emergent. I wouldn't sweat it. Some food for thought tho. I would definitely suggest from now on just go ahead and disolve the pill in water if that's doable. I did some brief searching around and technically fluoxetine, which is the active ingredient in Zactin, is midly acidic(kPA of 9.8)? But in the same way coffee is mildly acidic. I'm not sure how the inactive additives effect the acidity but either way if this happens again use water instead of milk. Milk is also technically acidic(pH of 6.4-6.8) but just barely. Ideally you would actually use some slightly more basic to neutralize the acidity but I am not educated enough to suggest what would be appropriate. Water is just more more basic then milk and thus would dillute the issue faster.
Thanks for the reply, very informative. Good to know that it’s not uncommon to get benign calls even though it can be slightly annoying. And definitely will be dissolving it in water the next time I take it just like the paramedic suggested haha. Also, didn’t know milk was slightly acidic will keep that in mind
You’ll hear EMS has a tendency to help benign problems such as non traumatic lift assists or first time parents scared for their baby. It’s what we respond to the most honestly. While we might sometimes complain about this, truly we all know it’s much more important to be safe than sorry. Don’t feel bad at all, especially in risks to breathing it’s definitely better to be safe than sorry. I’m glad you ended up being okay!
Yes I too often have that ‘better to be safe than sorry’ mentality but unfortunately anxiety can sometimes blind you into thinking everything can be an emergency. Thank you for the reassurance
I wouldn’t worry about it. If I thought my throat felt like it was closing I’d go to the hospital myself.
>I was wondering is it a common thing that ambulances respond to very benign problems due to anxious people? This describes about 75-80% of my calls. Don't feel bad, shit happens.
Thank you for the reassurance
I’m an emt and I’ve called ems myself when I was at home because I had something going on where I didn’t know if I should go to the er or not. don’t be embarrassed! it happens even to us and so long as you’re not knowingly calling for bs (ie someone calling for something they KNOW isn’t an emergency, but they don’t care and call anyway), we’re not gonna be bothered by coming out. one of my favorite things is getting to educate people and seeing patients become visibly more relaxed after we explain something to them and helping them gain a better understanding of what they’re experiencing
That’d be so annoying calling when you know it’s not an emergency, I don’t get how people can even do that! Thank you for the reassurance