Good sweet Lord, is there anything I don't have to attend to?

[osodecanela]

The phone call came from the patient's wife yesterday afternoon. He had barricaded himself into their house with all his firearms and she thought he was a hazard to himself. She had gotten out of the house and was safely away.

Allegedly, she had called the police and was told there was nothing they could do. Excuse me?

I called 911. Told them what she had just called in to me, and someone from the police department was sent out to have to do a welfare check. The man wound up on a psychiatric hold in the ER, and amen the police have removed all the firearms from the house.

Would someone please explain to me why the police listened to me, but not the man's wife?

Comments

[shirtlifterbear.livejournal.com]

Face it, you're credible.

If she's called before and it was a false alarm...

You know how it is!

[osodecanela.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know how it is. That's what's ticking me off!

[shirtlifterbear.livejournal.com]

At least you got him into a Psych-hold, and got the guns away!

That's like a homerun in Looney Land!

(Too many transports to North Cascades and Western State Mental Hospitals on my ambulance... TOO MANY!)

[osodecanela.livejournal.com]

Well yes and no; the police have the guns, but the psych emergency people cut him loose 6 hours later and sent him home.

On the way home, he siezed and wound up back in the ER. They sent him home again. He siezed again today and now he's in patient. Finally.

Hopefully there will be an MRI of his head tomorrow (ct was neg). I'm worried about a tumor.

[shirtlifterbear.livejournal.com]

Seizures are just never good news, that's true.

Did he have a psych history, or was this all new presentation?

[labeartorycub.livejournal.com]

You're a physician and viewed as having credibility.

[osodecanela.livejournal.com]

So because I have an MD, I'm credible. Or is it because of my gender? No matter the reason, it's wrong.

And it pisses me off. The woman had the wherewithall to call me, so something got done. Way to go. So much for all men are created equal. ('cept if you're female, or some other marginalized individual).

[furr-a-bruin.livejournal.com]

I'm finding it bizarre that the cops effectively ignored a report of someone holed up with a cache of firearms. That's the kind of thing - had it gone bad - that could get the whole freaking department fired.

That it took you rubbing their noses in it to get them to do something is an indication of VAST ineptitude and procedural dysfunction at that department.

[labeartorycub.livejournal.com]

I agree that it's wrong, and having been around law enforcement, I know that some officers have their prejudices. The news reports over Johannes Mehserle are just case-in-point. Part of it too is that some people get jaded over their perceptions. I used to volunteer in the ER, and I know we kept a "frequent flyer" file on certain people. We don't know how the woman presented herself to authorities. All we know is that when you stepped-in, what needed to happen was done.

[yarram.livejournal.com]

It's the same problem women encounter going to doctors: "Oh, it's all in her head, she's just being hysterical."

[Not singling you out, just mentioning the fact that it happens. I'm sure you've met colleagues who've done this.]