November 8, 2013

Garbage? Or 100% of a Patient's Net Worth?

My partner and I were sent to a well-known homeless encampment for the report of a seizure.  When we arrived we found a forty-something female who was twitching, writhing, and awake but altered.  She had the adrenergic boogie working.  The story that we got from bystanders (a nice way of saying the other homeless folk) was that she was a known crack user, went into the port-a-john for several minutes and came out acting this way.  See?  It is such a popular homeless camp that the city provides a toilet.  Anyway, her behavior was such that the normally tolerant group decided that her behavior was too disruptive even for them.  Her presentation was consistent with mild cocaine intoxication, and we took her to the hospital. 

As she was being loaded into the ambulance by my partner and the fire department, I grabbed a possession bag and started loading her stuff into it.  One of the firefighters asked why I was loading up her garbage – half-empty shampoo bottle, a single ragged sandal, a pair of dirty socks, a dirty blanket, a toothbrush, that kind of thing.  I explained it was her stuff, thinking it was a thorough explanation.  He shrugged and went on about his day.

It reminded me of a time that I transported a bicycle racer to the hospital after a crash had busted his clavicle and abraded the hell out of him.  He was riding $10,000 worth of racing bike and I got the fire department to agree to take it back to their station so it would be kept safe.  If they hadn’t agreed, I would have figured out some way to transport the bike to the hospital with the patient.  When I transport someone from their home, I make sure the door is locked.  Why would I not do that for all my patients, including the homeless?

Consider the homeless lady who smoked crack that I started this post with.  Her coat, bedroll, and hygiene products constitute almost all of her net worth.  Those things are all she owns.  Leaving that stuff (which I will grant appears to be garbage to me) on the sidewalk is equivalent to me transporting a middle class homeowner, but leaving the front and garage doors to their house open, the gas on, and candles burning.  My values of what is worthwhile to keep shouldn't play into it - it isn't my stuff.  Just because it doesn’t look as obviously important as a carbon fiber racing bike or a house doesn’t make it less important to the patient or her life. 

It is pretty easy to grab a possession bag and toss everything into it.  Bag it all up and make sure it is safe.



No comments: