5 ms·
The account of the German researcher pricking her finger with a needle containing the Ebola virus... Oh man, that's terrifying. It's very reassuring to hear the
by Pigo 7y ago
The account of the German researcher pricking her finger with a needle containing the Ebola virus... Oh man, that's terrifying. It's very reassuring to hear the vaccine worked out for her.
- bookofjoe 7y agoReminds me of the first week of my internship at Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center in July 1974. I needed to get an arterial blood gas from one of my patients — a drug addict with hepatitis and so-called "cannonball" fungal lesions in both lungs. I couldn't find the radial artery in either of his wrists, so I took the syringe and needle and moved down to his groin and tried a femoral stick. He was really obese and I couldn't feel his femoral pulse, so I tried to separate his abdominal fat pannus from his thigh with my right hand while plunging the needle into what I hoped would be his femoral triangle. The blind stick impaled my right index finger. My heart sank. I was sure I was gonna get hepatitis and/or his fungal infection, and spent the next month or so on tenterhooks waiting to wake up one day feeling sick. By some good fortune, I didn't get either of his illnesses.
- gear54rus 7y agoI don't get it. Wasn't the needle sterile? You pricked yourself but not him, how could have you contacted anything?
- fermenflo 7y agoSounds like they already pricked the patient when they couldn't find a vein in the arm, maybe?
- bookofjoe 7y agoPrecisely. The multiple radial artery puncture failures left needle puncture wounds.
- bookofjoe 7y agoI used the same needle for the femoral stick that I'd used for the radial artery attempts. Standard procedure then and now.
- chenning 7y agoCall me crazy, but I felt like this story was perhaps a little too specific.
- bookofjoe 7y agoYou can't please everyone!
- hammock 7y agoBetter to stay in the dark about what the average American experience is like! (?)
- behringer 7y agoHaha reminds me of a story a psychiatrist once told about how he/she would generalize people's problems that happen to all sorts of patients and yet would routinely be accused of sharing a unique and deeply embarrassing story by their patients, who don't realize it but all face the same problems.
- mercora 7y agoif it happens to all or just almost all or even just some of the patients it would still be sharing a somewhat private story from all of them, no? Being accused of sharing this (not so) unique story tells me it was even told to somebody that knew both people. I think you should refrain from that in this profession...
- behringer 7y agoPsychiatrists have to tell these stories in order to train new psychiatrists. The only thing they cannot share is personally identifiable information. Sadly, so many people think they are struggling alone and their situation is completely unique, which is rarely ever the case.
- joshgel 7y agoCan confirm the thrust of this story. And I trained in the last 10 years in NYC. Modern healthcare is little different.
- Pigo 7y agoWhen I hear what you medical guys go through, I realize how not cut out I am for it. I wish I was, because it is very fascinating and important to all of us. But I almost got faint just picturing what you described. Would you describe your motivation to help that man as being a factor of great empathy for his situation or cold detachment from him as a person? I'm not trying to degrade him as a person, but I'm curious how you learn to cope with the realities of certain people's bodies.
- bookofjoe 7y agoNeither. It was my job, and I did it to the best of my ability. Period.
- Pigo 7y agoSo you just learn, or have the ability, to not think about it?
- bookofjoe 7y agoExactly. I think it's some of each.
- toomuchtodo 7y agoCourage is an acquired skill.
- agumonkey 7y agoHappy for you. How often do hospital employees suffer these kind of accidents ?
- amelius 7y agoDid you tell your supervisor? (Not sure how easy it is to be open about accidents as a student)
- bookofjoe 7y agoNo.
- sansnomme 7y agoWere you allowed vein finder?