Thursday 29 December 2011

Self-inflicted

Self-inflicted trauma is some of the worst.  These poor people are trying to kill themselves, and I'm trying to prevent them from getting their wish.  I've seen self-inflicted gunshot wounds and stab wounds, people who try to slash their wrists or thighs (don't try this - it never works), a drowning, and several jumpers.  It's always sad, but this next kid was one of the saddest ones.

The call came in a few days ago as a self-inflicted stab wound .  A level 1 trauma, the most severe kind, a patient that has a good chance of dying any second.  The preliminary report from the ambulance was a young man who stabbed himself in the abdomen five times.  Oh boy.

A few minutes later, in rolls in a 17-year old kid with tears running down his cheeks and his hands cuffed behind him.  Uh oh - that's never good.  The police accompanying him described it thusly: he got into an "altercation" with another person, and he decided instead of arguing, stabbing the other guy would be a good thing to do.  Dumb idea #1.  The police were notified, and when they showed up, he ran.  Dumb idea #2.  When they caught up to him, he decided to just end it all rather than go to jail.  Dumb idea #3.

When I actually examined him, he had only managed to nick his skin five times.  That was it - no deeper injuries.  I sent him for a psychiatric evaluation before he went off to police custody.

I always feel sorry for these people, because obviously something has gone terribly wrong in their lives.  But I'm sorry, you're not dying on my watch.

3 comments:

  1. Great blog on so many diseases that are so common these days and people should take care of these types of disease. Thanks for the share.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes you are right! , such people should be sent to psychiatrists or in other case, in my opinion, should be ignored as they are serious attention seekers.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mostly disasters happen because of lack of awareness. Poor people usually face the diseases not just because of the poverty. It's also because of the lack of education.

    ReplyDelete

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