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Does ER tell what's in the IV?

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Posted 7/21/2008 10:28 PM (GMT 0)
I went to ER last night. Oh, sick sick sick. I will write later. But for now,
I want to ask: Do the nurses have to tell you what's in your IV?

Actuallly, I did compose an E-mail calling for HELP but the darn thing
got lost. I guess. I still have some technical problems, etc.

Pamela Neckpain has left the building and has returned to TV after a horrid
night.
Posted 7/21/2008 10:32 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, if you ask they have to tell you what is in the IV. You have a right to give informed consent or to decide to refuse medical treatment.
Sj
Posted 7/21/2008 10:36 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Pam so sorry you had such a bad day. I detest going to the E/R it's my understanding they have to tell you if You ask for most people do not ask. I always
ask because I am a pain in the butt and want to know everything going on simply because i have lost all my trust in the medical profession. My prayers are with You. tom in pain
Posted 7/21/2008 11:01 PM (GMT 0)
Yes they do and they should before they ever give it to you. I have stopped them from giving me something I didn't want and it was a good think too. They are supposed to look at the chart to see what you are taking but I'm not convinced it always sinks in. I was in for flu/nausea/dehydration and in they came with dilaudid. I never asked for pain meds! Guess they thought everyone who came in wanted some. I listened thru the curtain both times I was in there and it was just routine...here's your phenergan and this is a shot of pain med and not everyone was in there for pain.

Was frustrating but as a heads up .. ALWAYS ask before they give you anything at the ER. They are good people who are trying their best but they are over loaded and over worked. They are human and are capable of making a mistake...just like the rest of us.

Chutzie
Posted 7/21/2008 11:04 PM (GMT 0)
They do have to tell you, but I'm not very bold when I'm feeling that crummy. My dad usually goes to the ER with me and he is getting really good at staying on top of stuff like this, though. I am learning, the longer I deal with this life how important it is to have an advocate with you in those situations.
Posted 7/22/2008 12:54 AM (GMT 0)
Sj, Tom, Chutz, Ryand,
When you go to the ER, you feel vulnerable kinda like you're eight.
The reason I was concerned was because I take Methadone. After I'd been hooked up
to all these machines, I started to feel really "good." Now Methadone doesn't take
kindly to extra added Opiod meds. I started to wonder if the good I was feeling was
the "good" before you departed the mortal coil. : /
I asked the doctor and he said there were no narcotics, but by the time I asked all
the tubes and stuff were taken out of me. He could have been mistaken. Now, I
want to stay in good with this hospital and I'd like a copy of my report. They will
fax one to my doctor but they would not let me hand carry it.
I'm much better today. I lived. And for a while there it was almost pleasant and
I was out of this beast Chronic Pain.

Pamela Neckpain hopes my trail of illnesses does not follow my name.Please
forgive if it's there in ALL CAPS.
Posted 7/22/2008 1:09 AM (GMT 0)
Pamela:

I know exactly what you mean about feeling like an eight year old. It can be a debilitating experience in more ways than one.

Did you ask the treating doctor for a copy of the report, or did you call the medical records office later? The ER I usually go to always sends a copy of the records to my PCP - I don't even have to ask, but they keep everything on the computer, so they wouldn't have the ability to print it for me right then and there whilst I'm at the ER. If, however, you call the hospital's medical records office anytime after the date of your ER visit, they are obligated to provide you with a copy of your records. My hospital is very obliging in this regard and since they use this computerized reporting system, the records are available for me as soon as the very next day (although it is usually quite a while longer than that before I am physically up to getting out of the house again after an ER visit! smurf) I'd suggest that you try calling the medical records office if you haven't yet.

Ry
Posted 7/22/2008 1:52 AM (GMT 0)
Pamela,
Ry's right about getting a copy of your records. But you may have to sign a release for them to give them to you (for their records and identification). And they may charge you a fee - usually it's a small copying fee. It would be a good idea for you to check and then you can see what you were given. Be sure to tell them when you get your records that you want to know what meds were administered, because they may just give you a copy of a brief discharge summary.

PaLady
Posted 7/22/2008 1:56 AM (GMT 0)
Oh, yeah... Now that you mention it, they do have me sign a release each time. That's why I have to actually GO in and pick up the records. And the release has a little checklist on it that I can fill out that says what all kind of records I want - meds, scans, reports, doctors' notes, etc... I just mark them all, and they copy everything for me.

See, PaLady... What would I do without you? (this is what comes from the only two brain cells left thing... LOL!)
Posted 7/22/2008 1:59 AM (GMT 0)
Ry - Your two plus my two gives us a fighting chance, eh? LOL

PaLady
Posted 7/22/2008 2:21 AM (GMT 0)
Pamela,
I know exactly how that feels. Only when I was in the ER I think I felt even younger than eight. I have horrible reactions to certain medications (pain meds and muscle relaxants among them) yet when I had kidney stones and went to the ER I let them give me drugs when all I knew was the name of the drug. I did not ask its functional class, how its matabolized or anything. I would NEVER do that normally. I read the PDR, at least one nurses drug reference and the patient information handout and ask my doctor to describe how the drug will effect me given my metabolic disorder before swallowing asprin. Yet in the ER all I asked is "How long will it take to work?" It could have killed me and I did not care at the moment. I needed a keeper.
Sj
Posted 7/22/2008 2:31 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Pamela,

I post on crohns but saw your question and was glad you asked. I was in the ER early this year with a severe flu/crohns flare. I had a reaction to compuzine and went a little crazy. They came in with two syringes to put into my IV. I asked what they were and the nurse gave me a very condescending look (probably because I had been going crazy from my drug reaction) and said "an anti-anxiety med and an anti-histamine." To which I replied, "which anti-anxiety med and which anti-histamine?" She looked at me like I was from mars and replied "ativan and benadryl." I said, "ok, thank you." Now the real reason I asked was so when I was chatting w/ my crohnie friends online later I could tell them what they had given me. But it really shocked me that the nurse seemed so surprised I asked and wanted the actually name of the drug. I wonder if most people just sit there quietly taking whatever they get.
Posted 7/22/2008 6:09 AM (GMT 0)
Most people sitting in ER did not speak the language of the US. I'm sure they wouldn't
ask for their records. I was so "eight" and timid that I didn't ask. I gotta know. With this
fine crew behind me I shall push on and get the records in my hands.
I very rarely sing lullabies to myself as the techs poke and poke and poke to try
and find my collapsed veins. OH, the pain.
Later, I got to joking around with the tech who does the heart test. The stickies on
your chest thing. EKG! (That's it). Somehow it just seemed hilarious that he was so very considerate of
my modesty. (No one is more modest than I under ordinary circumstances.) They must
have slipped something in one of those tubes that was sticking into me.
Welcome Chronie, I was over thar in your neck of the woods -- no, maybe not -- I
believe I was on the Panic Attack board. All good people. All people I relate to.

Pamela Neckpain, Ib.S.
Posted 7/22/2008 4:50 PM (GMT 0)
Due to numerous allergic reactions to many, many medications, I always ask before receiving any kind of drug. Some don't like to be questioned I have found, but I don't care, its my life they are dinky doing with. Susie

The last time I went to ER I was having severe breathing problems, ER dr came in room with a big ole shot of steroids after I informed him I cannot tolerate them. Then to top it off, he handed me a script for a Medrol Dose Pack, idiot from hell. I go into congestive heart failure very quickly if given steroids. Made that very clear to this SOB. I was admitted to the hospital the next day by my GI, spent a week in there, was put on oxygen and have been on it 24/7 since. Susie
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