Combative Patients

I get paid to fight people. It’s one of the perks of the job. Not because I like hurting people, but rather it’s excellent practice for if you are in a situation where you need to.

Many patients, after having a seizure or a diabetic coma (these are many of our calls) become altered and combative. They don’t know what’s going on and in their confusion, they think this group of men is trying to kill them. Thus, their instincts respond with full fight-for-your-life adrenaline and they fight us, sometimes viciously.

This is the reason why I fight old women. It’s for their care….I promise.

My favorite combative patient was a man in his twenties who had a seizure. My partner and I got the common call in South Central and as soon as we rolled up, a fire fighter came out the door and yelled to us “Get the restraints!!” This is when we knew it was going to be a good call.

We entered into a bedroom where this 6-foot 200lb beast of a man was thrashing on the bed with 6 Firefighters trying to hold him down as sweat poured down their faces. My partner, a small scrappy Italian with braces, immediately RAN INTO THE ROOM AND JUMPED ON THE GUY’S BACK AND ROAD HIM LIKE A BULL. I swear I remember him giving a Howard Dean “YAAHHH!!!” before he jumped.

I would have laughed, had I not been in the middle of serious wrestling mach. I jumped in and went to work on trying to restrain the man’s flailing arms. It was near impossible. He was rolling, flipping, spiting and screaming. He tried to bite me multiple times and I almost had to put an elbow to his face.

I used joint manipulation to control him without hurting him. Meanwhile, my partner, still in full Rodeo mode, put soft restraints around his wrists.  All 8 of us were working in total chaos.

It was a blast.

We hit him with a sedative. It didn’t work. A normal patient with full adrenaline is difficult to control, but this guy was a Bear. After 10 minutes of wrestling, we got him strapped down on a backboard so we could move him safely to the ambulance. The police never showed up.

The Fire Medic and I jumped in the back and although the Patient was strapped down, I used my entire body weight just to hold his hands down from ripping the Medic apart, who was trying to place and IV. The guy jerked so violently, his IV ripped out and blood started spraying everywhere.

Remember, all this madness is happening in the back of a speeding ambulance veering through traffic. So we in the back were getting thrown around as sirens and the patient screamed. Total chaos. By this point, the medic and I were drenched in sweat and laughing.

I realized then, I love my job.