Three Different Problems

Cat Feces

A 51-year-old man came in by ambulance. When I walked in the room, I immediately noted a foul smell. An Emergency Medical Technician student working with me that day took the patient’s vital signs and then started undressing him so he could be fully evaluated. 

When the student took the patient’s socks off, he noticed there was cat feces on the patient’s foot. So, it was clear where the foul smell was coming from. What wasn’t so clear is how the patient could have stepped in cat poop at home, smearing it on his foot and between his toes, and then put his socks on before calling the ambulance to come to the hospital. 

Hit Twice on the Freeway

This 34-year-old man was stopped in his car on the side of the freeway when he was struck from the rear by another car at unknown speed. He didn’t seem to have been injured in the crash so he got out of his car to see what was going on. While standing by his car,  he was knocked to the ground by another passing car. He was treated in the emergency department for abrasions, lacerations and a severely fractured ankle. 

Shot to Remove Your Memory

I told a lady I was giving her a “strong medicine to get rid of your inflammation.” She objected, thinking it would take away her memory because she confused “inflammation” with “information.”