I am starting the book Clinical Emergency Medicine, by Mahadevan and Garmel and in talking about special patient populations there is this quote under the subject drug-seekers, "There have been several situations in which denying narcotics to a patient demanding them resulted in injury to or even death of health care providers." I did a couple quick searches but couldn't find any references on-line. Has anyone heard of this happening?

After Hurricane Katrina, many of the drug dealers got washed away. The addicts' only other available place to get drugs became the pharmacies and hospitals. The doctors had to play security guard as well as health care provider.

One of my friends was stabbed while working as an EMT by a dumbass who didn't believe him that basic life support ambulances don't carry morphine, or it's generic equivalent: "mo-feen"

Probably the most dangerous patients the psych patients, not the drug seekers. Drug seekers are usually wiley not dangerous. Psych patients can be deadly at any time without warning.

A police officer just got fatally shot in an ED not too far from where I work. His friend was shot as well, and an ED tech. No docs were wounded, but that's just luck talking.

Make sure if you work in a rough neighborhood that ALL patients go through metal detectors on the way in. We still don't do metal detectors for our ambulance patients. It's pretty stupid.

Probably the most dangerous patients the psych patients, not the drug seekers. Drug seekers are usually wiley not dangerous. Psych patients can be deadly at any time without warning.

A police officer just got fatally shot in an ED not too far from where I work. His friend was shot as well, and an ED tech. No docs were wounded, but that's just luck talking.

Make sure if you work in a rough neighborhood that ALL patients go through metal detectors on the way in. We still don't do metal detectors for our ambulance patients. It's pretty stupid.

Metal detectors don't help when the shootings are done with the officers gun.

Metal detectors don't help when the shootings are done with the officers gun.

As a former cop, I know that one of the sad facts is that most cops that get shot do so with their own gun. So we were taught to wear a ballistic vest that is, at the very least, rated for what you are carrying....

One should always be vigilant in the ER. Have a route of escape planned, and always be mentally ready for any surprises....

I've mentioned this before, but my scariest moment was when a tweaked out pt pulled a butterfly knife on me. I backed off, called for help, and made sure the patient did not feel cornered in the room. Luckily, he didn't come at me. Once security showed up, he set the knife down and was promptly hancuffed and taken away to jail....

Oh yeah, I used to work for a company that did mostly psych transfers (Yay! Not....) My boss told me that he was once stabbed with an Angiocath by a patient who thought he (my boss) was trying to poison him (the patient) or some such horses--t like that. Needless to say, psych patients put me on edge far more than drug seekers.

Oh yeah, I used to work for a company that did mostly psych transfers (Yay! Not....) My boss told me that he was once stabbed with an Angiocath by a patient who thought he (my boss) was trying to poison him (the patient) or some such horses--t like that. Needless to say, psych patients put me on edge far more than drug seekers.

A psych nurse got her head stomped on by a psych patient here last year - very nearly fatal, she has recovered enough to live independantly but I'm not sure if she is the "same". :(