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Dumbass of the week sparks emergency response in the South End
By adamg on Wed, 01/28/2015 - 9:03pm
Police and paramedics rushed to West Newton Street around 8:45 p.m. when somebody called 911 to report he'd been shot.
Brian D'Amico reports, however, that when the first responders got there, they discovered only a guy with a nosebleed - who figured he'd get a faster response if he told 911 he'd been shot.
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Comments
EMT stories
Whatever happened to Urban Paramedic? I loved his stories.
Update on the Urban Paramedic
No longer a paramedic, but writing a book on his experiences.
Thanks Adam
I really liked his blog and I will look forward to buying his book. If you hear when it's out let us know.
I remember him. He's an
I remember him. He's an Engaging Writer.
Am more interested in knowing why someone would call in Gunshots to get help for their Nosebleed, though.
Monty Python!
So were there pythonesque fountains of blood? Because I can't imagine any other justification for calling an ambulance for a nosebleed.
(preemptively: yes, some nosebleeds do warrant a trip to the ER, I've been the person applying direct pressure to one of these. But it's still a walk-in/drive-in, not a "call an ambulance" and certainly not "I've been shot!")
Real life vs. movie
A nosebleed in real life, not that big of a deal.
In a movie, character is about to die.
There are serious nosebleeds
I had a family member who we rushed to the ER with an uncontrollable nosebleed and who ended up in another ER later in the day when the treatment from the first ER failed so, yeah, it can be serious.
On the other hand, it's "cab to the ER" serious, not gunshot serious. To be fair, my relative did call 911, and EMTs did stabilize the situation.
Totally.
For those of us who grew up in the 1970s and read Lois Lowry's A Summer to Die, you can't see a nosebleed without thinking "leukemia!" But then I had a kid who got nosebleeds regularly during the dry winter months, often at night, so I got used to the whole Carrie-esque scenario.
People who want an ambulance
People who want an ambulance want it fast.
In Boston, if you call 911 and your only complaint is that you have a nosebleed, they will dispatch the a nearby BLS (basic EMTs, who are more than capable of handling most EMS calls) ambulance when they are available.
If you say someone has been shot (and about to lose consciousness, as the caller in this case said), you are going to get the nearest BLS ambulance no matter where they are coming from, the nearest available ALS (paramedics) and at least one EMS supervisor, possibly even the EMS shift commander heading to you as fast as they possibly can go. You'll also get pretty much every cop in the district that is available heading your way. And when they figure out you were lying about getting shot, that is a lot of people who won't be happy with you.
"Nosebleed" Has An Aura Of Insignificance, Akin To A Hangnail...
... but the caller could have reported the incident as "Severe and/or Uncontrollable Hemorrhaging". That would have emphasized the urgency of the situation, and still be completely truthful.
My first thought
I figured he called in gun shot, got nervous or threatened, so he changed his story.
It's not as though there's a part of W. Newton where this sort of thing doesn't happen.
And...
...when the EMTs appeared on the scene, the gunshot wound...vanished?
Not to mention
If you call in with a gunshot wound, police and fire are also going to roll to your location.
Seriously...
I want a pony, and I want it fast.
Not only do many (most?) people not understand what 911 is for, they don't seem to understand what ambulances are for. In most cases, if you cab or get a friend to drive you, you'll get there just as fast (possibly faster) and much cheaper.
Depends
If the nosebleed was due to heavy cocaine use, the caller might have been a little over the rail.
Former paramedic here
before I moved north. The lengths to which people will abuse ambulances and the 911 system have no bounds. Without any effort I can think of several:
Being called out for a "sick call" and the person asked for a Tylenol at 3am.
Being called out for a "sick call" and the person got a ride to the ER (from my rural community) and left the hospital before the paperwork was done to go to a dance club.
Being told that the patient had "significant" neck and back pain from a rear end MVC in which his coffee, which was sitting on his dash, had not even spilled.
Being told flatly that the "patient" needed a ride to the hospital to visit a family member (our MD's policy was that we were not allowed to refuse transport to anyone requesting via 911)
Calling in a nosebleed as a gunshot? That level of stupidity happens every week here I bet.