Communication with the patient and their family members or close ones has an essential role in patient care. In order to create a feeling of safety, it is important that the patient can speak their native language.
An intoxicated 14-year-old girl comes home in the evening. She’s been out with her friends. The parents get worried because of her condition. The girl is visibly intoxicated, throwing up, and doesn’t respond properly when talked to. The parents call 112. An EMS unit arrives.
Pm1: Good evening, we’re from Emergency medical services. We came to see Åsa.
FM: Hi! Come in. Åsa is in the bathroom. Let’s go there.
Pm1: Hi Åsa. I’m a paramedic, how are you feeling?
P: Bad.
Pm1: Can you tell me what you have had?
P: Alcohol.
Pm1: Have you had anything else than alcohol?
P: I don’t know. Maybe some medicine. Or my friend had some tablets. From her mum, I guess.
Pm2: Respiratory rate: 12, SpO2: 96 % (oxygen saturation), pulse 125, BP (blood pressure) 110/72, body temperature 36,6°C, blood glucose 5,7mmol/L, GCS 3+4+6 = 13/15, blows 0,89 BAC (blood alcohol concentration).
Pm1: We’ll gain IV-access, start her on a drip for Ringer (500ml), and give her activated charcoal.
Pm2: Can you sit up, Åsa?
P: I guess so.
Pm2: Here’s the activated charcoal, you should drink it.
Pm1: Madam, could you say Åsa’s full name and the identity code, please.
F: Åsa Keto, 120306A1660
Pm1: Does she have any diseases, or is she on any regular medication?
F: No, she’s healthy. Everything is fine at school too. This is the first time anything like this happens.
Pm1: Right. Now we, however, need to take her to the emergency room. Her condition is stable now, but she can’t tell what else she has had in addition to alcohol, so she needs to be taken to hospital. Her level of consciousness is lowered, so she needs to be observed. Unfortunately we have to make a child welfare notification, as she is underaged and intoxicated.
F: I understand. Can I come to the emergency room?
Pm1: Of course you can.
Emergency medical services arrive at a location where a two-year-old boy has eaten poisonous berries in his home yard. It is unclear how much he has eaten them.
Pm: We’re from Emergency Medical Services, good afternoon. Can you tell us what has happened?
Mum: I found my child outdoors by an ornamental shrub with his mouth full of berries. I think that they are poisonous.
Pm: What berries are they?
Mum: Mezereon. I removed the berries from his mouth and called 112.
Pm: Can you say how much he has eaten them?
Mum: I have no idea. He had his mouth full of half-chewed berries when I got there.
Pm: Approximately for how long ago was this?
Mum: I can’t tell exactly. He was outdoors with me and when I turned my back he had gone somewhere.
Pm: For how long was he gone?
Mum: I can’t tell exactly. He was outdoors with me and when I turned my back he had gone somewhere.
Pm: For how long was he gone?
O: En osaa tarkalleen sanoa… Hän oli kanssani ulkona ja kun olin kääntänyt selkäni, hän oli kadonnut jonnekin.
Pm: For how long was he gone?
Mum: Maybe two minutes until I found him by the shrub.
Pm: How old is your child and how much does he weigh?
Mum: He is two years and weighs twelve kilos, I think.
Pm: Have you given him anything to eat or drink after that?
Mum: I gave him a little water.
Pm: How much?
Mum: Half a glass.
Pm: Have you given any medicine to him?
Mum: No. They advised at the Emergency Response Centre to give activated charcoal, but we didn’t have any at home.
Pm: Has he vomited?
Mum: No, but he seems nauseous.
Pm: Is there anything abnormal in his condition?
Mum: He’s teary and keeps touching his mouth and tongue.
Pm: His mouth looks quite red.
Mum: It looked red when I took the berries out of his mouth.
Pm: Does he have any diseases or allergies to medicines?
Mum: No, none.
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