Well Steve, every time they called an ambulance for Megan, the
seizure was either over before they called the ambulance or shortly
after, so that she was always post-ictal by the time the ambulance
got there. And they STILL always wanted to haul her off to the
hospital. I don't care if an ambulance is called. What I object to is
the paramedics automatically hauling her to the hospital because she
is post ictal and can't communicate effectively at that point.
Status elepticus is a serious medical emergency. A post ictal state
is not. Can't they train people to respond differently to the two? I
find it incredibly irritating, not to mention expensive:) And I can't
help but think that the high cost of medical care could be brought
down just a little if only the people who really needed to be hauled
to the emergency room for treatment were actually taken there.
Someone mentioned having EFA go to bat on this issue. I don't know if
they ever would (I have been less than impressed with our local
branch), but I do think that we need to fight for some rights here.
Patients generally have the right to refuse treatment or transport,
but the nature of epilepsy is that most patients are not mentally
clear at the time that an ambulance arrives. Something needs to be
done. Training I think would be the most effective thing, but there
may be other routes. Perhaps a unique bracelet that only signifies
epilepsy, so that the paramedics know what they are dealing with from
the get-go. (Although you would think they would have enough training
to go, "Oh this person has had a seizure. Maybe they are post-ictal."
OK, enough ranting from me for now:)
Tammy
Megan's Mom
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe
No comments:
Post a Comment