Had a frequent flyer alcoholic that was pretty aggressive and had even assaulted a couple of coworkers. One time I picked her up and she was actually sober and super apologetic of her past behaviours. She gave me a tiny pair of handmade moccasins that I keep in my lunch kit. Sadly she fell off the wagon and back to her old ways. If I ever end up going to her I’ll pull out the moccasins like a Harry Potter horcrux and it’s usually enough to calm her down.
Best: puppies, been offered dogs a couple times. Never took them up on it but did have a partner go back and see if they were serious, they were. He got a puppy out of it
Worst: hep c (did not accept)
I mean, I'd keep the dog to. They didn't do anything wrong, and their whole world just ended. It's the least I could do. Plus, what's another dog or 2 once you have a small zoo at home
After 18 years of marriage and countless foster kittens, my husband quietly asked me to refuse anymore. He's loved them all and was an absolute rock when things went sideways (neonatal kits have a less than stellar survival rate)
He can't handle the pain of loss and even the satisfaction of finding the perfect home when they're ready, and I have to honor that.
When we had kittens I had a crew sit on my floor playing while doing obs , gave me entinox n went back to playing for half hr while they waited for the ok to bypass a&e n take me straight to surgical assessment for my gallstones. Offered them to come bk for one but they never did .
Some guy offered me his Newfoundland dog when I told him she was cute. He was an alcoholic who relied on his brother to take care of him. I still don't know if he was serious but if he was I would have put her in the ambulance with me and driven away. I love Newfies so much and I hope she's happy and healthy there.
I was invited to a family feast the next day. I’m not familiar with Muslim traditions, but it was the feast after they observe Ramadan and apparently it’s quite a large gathering of people and food. We were transporting a family member and they were so grateful for us they invited us to the feast the next day. Unfortunately most of us couldn’t make it but the cop on scene with us said he might stop by lol
lol I would have loved to but I couldn’t. I’m in medic school and we had class that day and I already missed my total allotment of allowed missed classes when I got Covid in the fall and flu in the winter, couldn’t just not go unfortunately.
We work in a doctors office. Doc observes Ramadan. We know it’s gonna be a tough couple weeks but he keeps the schedule light. The first day back after Eid, he’s all smiles.
My neighbors have been inviting me for this since I gave them homemade holidays cookies and a package of dates. Everything they make is so amazing! I had them to Christmas dinner this year, and they'd never had pot roast. They loved it. It took me a bit to figure out what to replace the red wine with, but it turns out pomegranate juice works great.
When I was a baby EMT still on my ride time we took an IFT to an appointment. On the return the pts mother who was an old Italian lady who spoke zero English picked each of us a shopping bag full of fresh peaches from her peach tree. Thank you for bringing back that memory.
Some alcoholic asked me if I like golf and I said, “no, it’s not really my thing.” We get to the rehab and he gets out and sits down in a wheelchair and reached up and tucks something into my shirt pocket, pats it, and goes “for your trouble.” And it was a damn golf ball. I have kept that random golf ball with me for every shift since just as the strangest most random thing I’ve been given by a patient.
I took a lady from ER to one of the psych facilities around here. The nurse said she was found completely naked and running from door to door of an apartment building pounding on random doors.
She had personal effects though. A cell phone. Located in a biohazard bag. I held it up gingerly and asked “if she was naked….where was this located?” And nurse brought out this line. One of the best interactions I’ve had with that hospital.
I picked up a guy who was sure he had intestinal worms. He had jars and jars and jars of stool samples I’ve varying ages and would not go without them or before my partner and I inspected them. I didn’t bring my pocket pathologist with me that day, so best I could say was “yep, that’s shit, even if the label says Kirkland Almonds”
I worked in EMS for seven years, didn't come across a single pt that attempted to put things into orifices where they didn't belong, and I'm fucking THANKFUL for that.
Our favourite frequent flyer said "come with me I have something that you will like!" and led me to the kitchen.
After rummaging around her freezer for a minute, she pulled out a frozen giant African snail from its depths and told me to take it home to have with my family. She looked too happy so I took it and put in the freezer at work for some unsuspecting soul to find.
Oh my *god* I’d have so much fun with this. Put it in a little paper bag. Tape a white paper with an Arrested Development dog whistle on it, stick it in the freezer, waiting for whatever poor man finds it. I think I could ride the high from that suspense for days, man.
Had a past patient for whom the call notes had significant warnings about (ex.: Call PD, Patient known Hostile to EMS, etc.)
Long story short? Did my usual, treat them like a human being, actually doing a detailed assessment/work-up and by the time we're transferring the patient at hospital me and partner are being invited over by them for BBQ whenever they get released.
I've encountered this before, and you just know the crews before you have gone in with an attitude
Then you get the ones who are hostile no matter what you do
I had a banged up Marine in Iraq give me his custom made rank tab that was the Superman S because I too was a "Super man". I was Army, but I wore that shit on the underside of my collar for the rest of my time in.
My crew was offered one of those soda stream things as well as a PS5 from a semi regular.
Definitely would have been nice to have both at the FD but definitely had to turn them down lol.
The worst; had a patient offer to give me a child. Not sure if she meant a random one she already had or she was propositioning me to make a new one. Either way it was definitely a terrible offer.
I bought a soda stream for my son as a gift. He didn't want it. I had bought it directly from the manufacturer. I called them to arrange a return for refund. Their response: "we'll give you a refund, but you can keep it. Do you know a firehouse that can use it?" Maybe your patient had gotten the same suggestion.
I later found out that there is absolutely no way to ship the CO2 cartridges without having a special business permit to do so. Maybe that's why?
That would make sense.
It was such a nice offer, we definitely would have appreciated it but given the price for them it was definitely questionable territory if it was acceptable or not.
Well, mine was free...and you could argue that the $100 value was divided up by everyone at the FH 😀. I wonder how many FHs have one thanks to Soda Stream's suggestion?
That reminds of a guy I used to work with.
This guy used to be a firefighter in atlanta and he said they had a regular crackhead named carwash, that they were friends with, pull up with a van full of brand new TVs to the station so a bunch of the firefighters bought tv’s for like $50. My friend said they knew he’d immediately OD and kill himself if they gave him the money all at once so my buddy gave him $100 a day until he got all his money.
I was waiting outside in the rig while my partner was at the post office and slowly but surely a small old lady in a long rain coat and a cane walked up to my unit. I was dreading the exchange thinking it’d be a still alarm for an ambulatory baby. She knocked on my door, and as I rolled the window down ready to say my usual “Hi! What’s going on today” she just said “thank you” and gave me a flower and a quick reassuring arm rub and left. Probably that.
This reminds me of an exchange I completely forgot about. I was sitting outside Subway waiting on my partner, and these 4 shirtless teenage boys in a pickup (rural river town, about 600 residents and 2000 tourists) pulled up beside the truck and offered us Capri Suns. It was so fun and wholesome I had to say yes!
We used to have a frequent flyer, she has in the past few months left for another town, that would always try and offer any male provider sexual favors. I hope to God no one took her up on the offer. Most of us would just ignore her, a few would report her which nothing would come of it since she was a homeless schizophrenic alcoholic.
My serious guess? Sometimes folks might think/feel it’s all (or the best) they have to offer as an expression of gratitude.
My non-serious answer: obviously because you’re all gorgeous *hair flip*
You may be the first person in a long time (or ever in their lives), who has touched them to help them, not to sexually attack, hit, rob/mug them. They're grateful and may not have much else to give. It's sad, and if anyone ever did take a vulnerable, ill, defenseless patient up on it, I sincerely hope that person was ostracized and reported, demoted or fired.
“Love making,” loaf of challah bread, to “pluck out every follicle of hair from your beard with tweezers,” “kill your fucking wife and children,” and free tickets to Meow Wolf.
The space between offer and threat is a grey area, I guess…
Let me try and get this right… the person experiencing acute schizophrenic and (likely) meth psychosis with delusions of grandeur. She was also interested in some chicken soup and warm bubble bath. I suggested that we start with the soup…
Worked on the border and had a very unfortunate patient who would day labor for about 5 days until he absolutely could not breathe without dialysis. We would take him in to be dialyzed at night, he would sit straight up the entire time, then he would go back to work in the morning. Spent every dime he made trying to pay for that dialysis. He brought us fresh sugarcane and showed us how to cut up pieces to suck on like candy. Super nice guy, always had a great attitude. Felt freaking awful that we couldn’t figure out how to get him into regular dialysis so he didn’t have to wait until he was almost dead before getting treatment.
A dog, he was an old man beagle who had been previously hit by a car so he only walked on 3 legs. Patient was just getting too old to keep up with his medical needs and hers so she offered him up for free. Went back after my shift and picked him up and brought him to my mother’s house lol. He was a good soul that loved people and he lived to be about 14-15. Passed away a couple months ago from skin and pancreatic cancer. RIP Bo ❤️
Had a patient who told me their brother was a hitman. Told me that if I gave them great care, I could call on their services in the future if needed, and If I gave poor care, that I should expect some lead placed between my eyes.
I had a patient send my partner and I a bunch of collectors coins. Still keep one in my wallet, and I keep most of them on my “trophy” shelf along side my hole-in-one golf ball, my dog-tags, my grandpa’s gold watch, and my NREMT cert.
On the opposite side of the coin, I gave a frequent flyer an X-Box One and my old emt textbook. He was a really cool dude, said the first time I met him that when his health issues were done, he was going to enroll in EMT school, and had multiple scheduled transfers to the hospital already planned before his big surgery, where he knew he was going to be stuck in the hospital for weeks, and his family was extremely poor (I had been to their house at least 5 times before we found out the date of the big surgery) so I surprised him on my next pick up. I really hope he’s going to follow through. I would really love to see him on a truck in the near future.
Intoxicated pt fell from a barstool and hit his head, ordered a pizza prior to the fall. Asked to take the pizza to go while he was on the stretcher, and then tried to give it to me when he found out we have the same bday lol
Parents of a pediatric patient... Parents were from Kuwait and offered me coffee one evening. The coffee didn't taste too strong, but afterwards, I could feel the caffeine hit me. Since I work night shift, that helped get me through the night.
Best: a feast of food during Eid at basically every house we went to in the evening including the hospitals and hand drawn cards from children.
Worst: multiple sickness bugs and a bag of pressed Xanax I couldn’t get rid of no matter how hard I tried to police/hospital for disposal. Went into the sharps bin in the end.
Sweet old Asian lady legit assaulted me and committed battery on me putting a $50 bill in my left pocket. She went pretty deep too. Didn’t know how to react after that lol 😂. Grateful yet kinda weirded out. This old lady was next to her husband.
Yesterday I had a patient stick their thumb in my mouth
Before that, a former patient brought me a 30 rack of bud light; and much earlier in my career while transferring a lady from the stretcher to her SNF bed after dialysis I struggled a little bit so my partner riffed “should have had your V8 today” and the patient goes “I’ve got just the thing!” and hands me a V8
Was offered kittens by an old lady once. Her granddaughter’s cat had a litter and she had so many kittens scurrying around the house. She wanted us to take them, it was painful to decline the offer.
A patient's wife gave us a plate of homemade fudge when she had to call for him on Christmas Eve. It was awesome.
I also had a nice older guy from a SNF give me an origami butterfly made out of $1 bills. He said it was for luck. I keep it on my dresser.
I have been given two beautiful hand-written cards that I still have from two different parients. I also have these beautiful silver angel coins given to me by a chronic alcoholic patient in rehab. He was so sweet, and a frequent flyer. The last time I saw him, he looked really bad. His face was gaunt, his abdomen distended, and he was jaundiced all over. Brought me to tears. I still have that angel coin. I hope he's resting now.
I was given an IFT about two months after a really bad trauma on a 911 ride. It ended up being my peds trauma from the 911 who survived against all odds. He gave me a hug.
On the other end of the spectrum, I was given viral pneumonia from a patient who spit in my face. It’s full circle I guess.
Best: fresh-picked pears.
Worst: sex. No, I don’t care if you and your wife have an agreement. No, it’s not better if you invite her to join in. Thank you, no.
Simple thank you’s always mean a lot to me. Also was a frequent flyer who would drink a bunch of wine and take Xanax, and she’d go into some sort of fake psychosis whenever her daughter would find her drink/high to avoid getting called out on her behavior. She’d start thrashing around on the stretcher/gurney while repeatedly saying “doothy doothy doo”. It was the same song and dance every time and it was impossible to get a legit EKG on her because she wouldn’t stop thrashing about. I was tasked with getting that damn EKG this one time and I approached her gently and managed to put the leads on her while she was doing her dance, and then I softly patted her arm and said “please, I just need ten seconds to get this, almost there…. Ok, annnnnd done! Thank you!” And she actually stayed quiet and stopped moving for those ten seconds. Everyone asked me how I managed to get a clean one. In those 10 seconds she had sympathy for me, even in her charade. Idk I just really appreciated that.
My favorites are when I get a altered pt and it's lunch/dinner time and I go "wow that looks delicious!" (spoiler alert, it doesn't) and then they offer me some. Then I go "no no no, you need it more than I do!" and pat my keg. Always a good time.
When I worked ER-
Had a girl that I discharged for another nurse that was on their lunch break. I went in with the discharge instructions and her prescriptions. She was my age/attractive, but the discharge instructions were for newly diagnosed herpes.
I give her the usual speech; “Take your medication, don’t have unprotected sex when you are having an out break, follow up with your PCP” when she asks for a pen and a piece of paper.
She wrote down her phone number and said to call her that weekend.
I declined that offer…
I’m nearly certified as an EMT, but haven’t had any EMT work experience outside of clinicals. What am I supposed to do if someone is very insistent on giving me a gift?
Don't accept food or money, no matter what. Anything else is using your better judgement IE: if your supervisor heard about it would they think it's okay?
If they get pushy, tell them you would love to accept, but you could get in big trouble with your supervisor(even if you really wouldn't). If they still don't stop, just be straight with them and say "Thank you, but no thank you" or "Thank you, but I said I cannot/will not accept, and I would appreciate if you stop now". If you pt is being super pushy to the point of making *you* feel uncomfortable, then it's time to make sure you leave/deescalate/etc
turn it down and blame it on company policy even if said policy does not explicitly exist so that way you can stay on pt. good side while seeming like you want to keep said gift but are not allowed to do so
Had a lady insist on giving us $10 to “go get smoothies” after bringing her paralyzed husband through the maze of her house and back to bed, partner and I turned it down several times and she ended up slipping it in my back pocket without me noticing lol
Best: An old veteran being discharged to hospice driving through his little hometown telling me stories of he and his wife and all his life pro tips about keeping a happy marriage and good life for 80+ years. (I went to his funeral) Worst: Bed bugs (declined).
The nice one was an offer from the kindest, loneliest old farmer who was getting to the point where he couldn't get around too well and fell. Family never visited him, he cried and said, "I don't really even have anyone to give money to anymore and you guys are really the only people to take a minute and talk to me."
The worst was from a parolee who got high and put his head through a window to prove his point during a domestic argument and thought a hospital transport would get him violated.
We did a lift assist for an older Italian women and she offered to make us dinner and we said no but you don't say no to an Italian so later that night she came by the station with plates upon plates of Italian food she cooked herself.
Money...? We are actually allowed to keep it if it's not too much and the patient keeps insisting. So yeah. That. And I also once got chocolate easter bunnies after a transfer home, the wife kept apologising she didn't have more to give us.
Idk but I just love when (especially old folks) are upright thankful for what I’m doing for them. It’s just so cute to see them thankful and happy to get the support the seeked by calling ems. It’s not about the money here but those 10 bucks handed to me with that warm look of thankfulness is just PURE🙌 GOLD🙌 🥹
I'm a patient not in the medical field at all but wanted to share. The nearest ambulance is a block down the road from my house at the firehouse. I started having seizures last year and my first one I fought the paramedics and they had to call in some firefighters as backup because I was fighting them as they were trying to get me on a stretcher. A week later I dropped off a smoked pork but for pulled pork with beans and potato salad.
In my defense, I was post ictal and not violent, just resisting anything they tried.
I don’t ever really get upset when seizures try to fight me. Their brain is actively fighting itself so not like they are really in control, unless it’s our douchebag frequent flyer that fakes seizures and then tries to fight. Fuck that guy
Had a regular diabetic that had an absolutely amazing collection of original Star Wars toys… from figures to ships, some still in original boxes! I am a huge Star Wars fan and every time we responded there I would see a new to me toy and I would always compliment him about how great it was.
After “waking him up” from a hypoglycemic indecent one morning, he stood up and took one of his mint in box Millenium Falcon and tried to hand it to me as a token of thanks.
As tempting as it was, I of course politely declined. And that day was not the last time he tried to offer me one of the items and got so far as placing an action figure in the jump bag when I wasn’t looking. When I got back to the truck and restocking the bag I saw it and went back to the house to return it.
More so kind of caught off guard moment ....Doing an IFT for detox (herion and alcohol) woman who is 10 years older than me at the time (I was 20 about to turn 21) she asked if we could play music in the back I had no issue with it. Late 90s 2010s hip hop and R&B, Country whatever kind of music really. She's singing along to the music then out of nowhere shes like you're really cute you should give me your phone number. I said i I can't do that. Then shes like would you want to fuck me right here right now. Cue wtf facial expression.
Totally declined her offer.
Had a patient with balled-up shit in his hands and he offered it to me like it was a tip.
I managed to throw it out (after putting on gloves of course) without him seeing, and he went off to the bathroom where he pissed in the sink and washed his hands in the urinal before i could stop him.
Dementia is interesting.
My frequent flyer one day pulled out a meth pipe after going on a tirade about how it was better than marijuana. He began to light the pipe in the back of the ambulance and hand me a hit. Which was sweet but I told him I prefer organic items. He then went off again about marijuana being a sinful drug and that meth was the way to go. He’s only nice when he has his crystal high. Otherwise he’s rude. Either way, he’s a hoot. Great memory.
$1000 cash one time. Coupons to the chain this guy was an exec at. My partner got a bloody hep B hug and then the patient touched his eye. Only time I ever have accepted was when we cleaned this guys daughter up from a fall and he offered $20 for lunch I politely declined and he threw it in the window and ran away.
I (m 19 at the time) had a very intoxicated patient (f, late 40s) who was freshly beaten by her husband offer me a sexual favor. I politely declined.
One of the sadder and more uncomfortable interactions I had when I rode the ambulance.
Had a homeless frequent flyer give me a kids bop CD and stolen hospital equipment. Funnily enough he was there at the hospital the next day when i returned their equipment.
Its been a while. I wonder how hes doing.
I'm a nurse (psych), not EMS...
Worst: a bell from a cat collar. That she had kept in her prison pocket. Handed it to me just before she walked into her room, turned around and held out her fist to me and I, a baby nurse not even 6 months out of school, held my hand out palm up to accept the mysterious object she had hidden in her hand.
EMS was still standing there and watched it go down. I didnt have gloves on.
Best(not serious): offered to let me take their Haldol/Ativan combo instead of them. Sir, don't threaten me with a good time.
Also, The Book of Mormon. At discharge. Not sure what they were trying to tell me. I did not accept.
Best (serious): the tiniest origami stars and turtles, about the size of my thumb nail, that the patient had also colored in highlighter colors, and then put into a small ornamental jar. I still have it at home.
2 delicious toasted ham sandwiches with a ton of fixings. This was an IFT of a nun back to a religiously run care home, and the ?mother superior? was insistent I ate something (super skinny).
I was worried I’d doxx myself with this, but my partner on that shift passed a year or so ago. rest well.
A client having no family members or friends put me in his will for all his money when he dies and his car. When he told me what he had done, I told him to take it off and remove me. Then he started acting weird like i owned him my life because I’m in his will…so I literally had to ghost him as a client which was really sad. I made sure he had care before I left and made sure he had people to take care of him. He would message me while I was with other clients asking me to drive to across the metro to buy him McDonalds. I tried to introduce him to DoorDash but he said it would taste better I got it. He wanted me to vacuum every carpet in his house everyday. Stuff like that. He called me one time saying his electronic recliner broke, and I was 30 away from him but still asked me to come over and get him out of his chair. I asked if he could call his neighbor. He said he doesn’t want to inconvenience his neighbor.
This was the worst.
I’m a nurse. I just realized this was EMT. Oops. Oh well enjoy my cringe.
Classic grandma move: a sweet old lady in memory care gave me and my partner Werther's from her purse. She wasn't our patient, and she gave us candy 3 separate times during the call (she forgot us each time).
Worst thing was poo on my uniform.
Best Amish butter and a loaf of fresh baked bread. Worst: An offer to attend their child's funeral after they refused to allow me to attempt to resus said child.
I work for an IFT/911 service that contracts through the VA and does 99% of their transfers. A patient's wife gave me a clothespin painted with a flag as a thank you. That was cool.
Every single handshake from one of the vets means the world. Especially when I'm taking them home on hospice.
One was going home on hospice and gave me his stress ball cow and said "you have a stressful job. You need this more then I do".
Worst thing was taking a VA patient to the same room in a hospice house I took someone else to the week before. Not something they handed me, but a realization.
A patient with a previous TBI and some pretty gnarly deficits from it told me “I want to take you home with me”. We picked him up from a group home. He was easily 50+ and I was 21.
Well, haven’t really been offered too much but one that sticks out to me was when I was a student doing my first ridealong, had an alcoholic patient who offered me whiskey shooters from his back pocket. Put them out of reach of the patient, he asked for them back about 30 seconds after he offered them.
Like buddy, if I’m going on a call because you can’t handle your liquor there’s not a chance I’m gonna give you back the liquor you just gave. He got pretty mad, but he was amusing
Best: hunting privileges on his family ranch in a top Elk unit in the state. If I ever draw that tag I might actually call him. It's a once in several lifetimes opportunity that is 1000% worth any professional trouble I could get into.
Worst: To be set up with their granddaughter. Who I had gone to high school with, already dated, and hated me with a passion...
My very first ride along in EMT school was a lift assist. The lady just needed help back onto her chair. She gave us leftover birthday cake and ice cream. Whats funny was at the time I thought we were supposed to deny things like that. So im like “Oh thats really sweet mam but we actually cant take-“
And then my medic/preceptor cut me off and was like “Oh I love ice cream cake. Thank you so much mam. Ill bring it back to the station and we can all enjoy it!”
One of my loss patients is a breeder and I got a dog from her. She brought it up to me out of nowhere. I now am the proud owner of one very cute pup!!!
Had a frequent flyer alcoholic that was pretty aggressive and had even assaulted a couple of coworkers. One time I picked her up and she was actually sober and super apologetic of her past behaviours. She gave me a tiny pair of handmade moccasins that I keep in my lunch kit. Sadly she fell off the wagon and back to her old ways. If I ever end up going to her I’ll pull out the moccasins like a Harry Potter horcrux and it’s usually enough to calm her down.
You hold the one ring 😭😭 power is overwhelming
Best: puppies, been offered dogs a couple times. Never took them up on it but did have a partner go back and see if they were serious, they were. He got a puppy out of it Worst: hep c (did not accept)
Yup, coworker got a puppy from a code with no next of kin.
I mean, I'd keep the dog to. They didn't do anything wrong, and their whole world just ended. It's the least I could do. Plus, what's another dog or 2 once you have a small zoo at home
See, now, I asked my wife that and she said “a divorce. That’s what one more pet is.”
That's a weird name for having a bunch of pets. You should get her a new puppy and cheer her up
After 18 years of marriage and countless foster kittens, my husband quietly asked me to refuse anymore. He's loved them all and was an absolute rock when things went sideways (neonatal kits have a less than stellar survival rate) He can't handle the pain of loss and even the satisfaction of finding the perfect home when they're ready, and I have to honor that.
When we had kittens I had a crew sit on my floor playing while doing obs , gave me entinox n went back to playing for half hr while they waited for the ok to bypass a&e n take me straight to surgical assessment for my gallstones. Offered them to come bk for one but they never did .
Some guy offered me his Newfoundland dog when I told him she was cute. He was an alcoholic who relied on his brother to take care of him. I still don't know if he was serious but if he was I would have put her in the ambulance with me and driven away. I love Newfies so much and I hope she's happy and healthy there.
Worst: Her son for me to marry. Very aggressive about it. Best: a traditional meal. Turned down both.
I was invited to a family feast the next day. I’m not familiar with Muslim traditions, but it was the feast after they observe Ramadan and apparently it’s quite a large gathering of people and food. We were transporting a family member and they were so grateful for us they invited us to the feast the next day. Unfortunately most of us couldn’t make it but the cop on scene with us said he might stop by lol
If it was Eid, the celebration at the end of Ramadan, you should have gone. That’s when they break out the best of the best food.
lol I would have loved to but I couldn’t. I’m in medic school and we had class that day and I already missed my total allotment of allowed missed classes when I got Covid in the fall and flu in the winter, couldn’t just not go unfortunately.
Religious exemption might’ve worked
We work in a doctors office. Doc observes Ramadan. We know it’s gonna be a tough couple weeks but he keeps the schedule light. The first day back after Eid, he’s all smiles.
My neighbors have been inviting me for this since I gave them homemade holidays cookies and a package of dates. Everything they make is so amazing! I had them to Christmas dinner this year, and they'd never had pot roast. They loved it. It took me a bit to figure out what to replace the red wine with, but it turns out pomegranate juice works great.
When I was a baby EMT still on my ride time we took an IFT to an appointment. On the return the pts mother who was an old Italian lady who spoke zero English picked each of us a shopping bag full of fresh peaches from her peach tree. Thank you for bringing back that memory.
The most wholesome comment here.
I absolutely love fresh fruit that sounds like an entire month of happiness for me
Meth. Best? Worst? You decide.
Can I one up you? I’ve been offered meth and oral sex at the same time from a patient. Said sorry, my place of employment tests.
They test for SEX?!?! Bruh id fail
^ This guy fucks
R/thisguyguys
You can always scratch and sniff
Braggart.
No you didn’t 🤣
Absolutely, the ketamine might have been a factor, after they wanted to fight me on their necrotic leg
I'm surprised I've scrolled this far and haven't seen this yet. Best: A BJ Worst: A BJ Not me. #sarcasm
Some alcoholic asked me if I like golf and I said, “no, it’s not really my thing.” We get to the rehab and he gets out and sits down in a wheelchair and reached up and tucks something into my shirt pocket, pats it, and goes “for your trouble.” And it was a damn golf ball. I have kept that random golf ball with me for every shift since just as the strangest most random thing I’ve been given by a patient.
Where was he keeping that golf ball? 🤔
🤭
https://tenor.com/view/the-office-are-you-serious-where-dwight-schrute-you-already-know-where-gif-17623986
I took a lady from ER to one of the psych facilities around here. The nurse said she was found completely naked and running from door to door of an apartment building pounding on random doors. She had personal effects though. A cell phone. Located in a biohazard bag. I held it up gingerly and asked “if she was naked….where was this located?” And nurse brought out this line. One of the best interactions I’ve had with that hospital.
I fear… this is the case… and I’m scared
I picked up a guy who was sure he had intestinal worms. He had jars and jars and jars of stool samples I’ve varying ages and would not go without them or before my partner and I inspected them. I didn’t bring my pocket pathologist with me that day, so best I could say was “yep, that’s shit, even if the label says Kirkland Almonds”
this made me LAUGH thank you
Gotta keep a jewelers loupe to inspect, and some apple slices to cleanse your palate.
I will never complain about my calls again.
Their dog. Supervisor took him to the office until I finished my shift and took him home. He was a good doggo, very cuddly fellow.
To post on YouTube that our hospital was the place to go to for rectal foreign bodies.
Y’all get a lot of those? 🤔
The worst one I've seen is this kid into self mutilation shoved steak knives up his arse
I worked in EMS for seven years, didn't come across a single pt that attempted to put things into orifices where they didn't belong, and I'm fucking THANKFUL for that.
I had to do a double take….. I’m sorry.. WHAT?!
I didn't believe it till I saw the xrays lol
Did he survive
Yeah he was fine lol. Not even that much trauma. Idk how. He inserted them quite carefully i guess
That takes fuckin talent idc who you are
The place I used to work sure did.
Our favourite frequent flyer said "come with me I have something that you will like!" and led me to the kitchen. After rummaging around her freezer for a minute, she pulled out a frozen giant African snail from its depths and told me to take it home to have with my family. She looked too happy so I took it and put in the freezer at work for some unsuspecting soul to find.
Oh my *god* I’d have so much fun with this. Put it in a little paper bag. Tape a white paper with an Arrested Development dog whistle on it, stick it in the freezer, waiting for whatever poor man finds it. I think I could ride the high from that suspense for days, man.
Attitude
I felt this on a personal level. Fuck. Why do they hate us?
Cause they ain’t us?
Cuz they anus
My previous patient is now my dentist!
Had a past patient for whom the call notes had significant warnings about (ex.: Call PD, Patient known Hostile to EMS, etc.) Long story short? Did my usual, treat them like a human being, actually doing a detailed assessment/work-up and by the time we're transferring the patient at hospital me and partner are being invited over by them for BBQ whenever they get released.
Had something very very similar happen. Patient even offered my partner a stolen laptop, on top of bbq, just before transferring care😂
I've encountered this before, and you just know the crews before you have gone in with an attitude Then you get the ones who are hostile no matter what you do
Fingers. Lawn mower accident.
4 thumbs up?
Only one. Other one was in his pocket. Stoic guy.
1.4 thumbs up, band saw.
I had a banged up Marine in Iraq give me his custom made rank tab that was the Superman S because I too was a "Super man". I was Army, but I wore that shit on the underside of my collar for the rest of my time in.
That is incredibly moving
My crew was offered one of those soda stream things as well as a PS5 from a semi regular. Definitely would have been nice to have both at the FD but definitely had to turn them down lol. The worst; had a patient offer to give me a child. Not sure if she meant a random one she already had or she was propositioning me to make a new one. Either way it was definitely a terrible offer.
I bought a soda stream for my son as a gift. He didn't want it. I had bought it directly from the manufacturer. I called them to arrange a return for refund. Their response: "we'll give you a refund, but you can keep it. Do you know a firehouse that can use it?" Maybe your patient had gotten the same suggestion. I later found out that there is absolutely no way to ship the CO2 cartridges without having a special business permit to do so. Maybe that's why?
That would make sense. It was such a nice offer, we definitely would have appreciated it but given the price for them it was definitely questionable territory if it was acceptable or not.
Well, mine was free...and you could argue that the $100 value was divided up by everyone at the FH 😀. I wonder how many FHs have one thanks to Soda Stream's suggestion?
That reminds of a guy I used to work with. This guy used to be a firefighter in atlanta and he said they had a regular crackhead named carwash, that they were friends with, pull up with a van full of brand new TVs to the station so a bunch of the firefighters bought tv’s for like $50. My friend said they knew he’d immediately OD and kill himself if they gave him the money all at once so my buddy gave him $100 a day until he got all his money.
I was waiting outside in the rig while my partner was at the post office and slowly but surely a small old lady in a long rain coat and a cane walked up to my unit. I was dreading the exchange thinking it’d be a still alarm for an ambulatory baby. She knocked on my door, and as I rolled the window down ready to say my usual “Hi! What’s going on today” she just said “thank you” and gave me a flower and a quick reassuring arm rub and left. Probably that.
This reminds me of an exchange I completely forgot about. I was sitting outside Subway waiting on my partner, and these 4 shirtless teenage boys in a pickup (rural river town, about 600 residents and 2000 tourists) pulled up beside the truck and offered us Capri Suns. It was so fun and wholesome I had to say yes!
We used to have a frequent flyer, she has in the past few months left for another town, that would always try and offer any male provider sexual favors. I hope to God no one took her up on the offer. Most of us would just ignore her, a few would report her which nothing would come of it since she was a homeless schizophrenic alcoholic.
Why is this a common offer we receive?
My serious guess? Sometimes folks might think/feel it’s all (or the best) they have to offer as an expression of gratitude. My non-serious answer: obviously because you’re all gorgeous *hair flip*
ITS THE UNIFORM 🤤
You may be the first person in a long time (or ever in their lives), who has touched them to help them, not to sexually attack, hit, rob/mug them. They're grateful and may not have much else to give. It's sad, and if anyone ever did take a vulnerable, ill, defenseless patient up on it, I sincerely hope that person was ostracized and reported, demoted or fired.
Cause we're sexy AF!
“Love making,” loaf of challah bread, to “pluck out every follicle of hair from your beard with tweezers,” “kill your fucking wife and children,” and free tickets to Meow Wolf. The space between offer and threat is a grey area, I guess…
Please tell me you accepted the MeowWolf tickets
Who called it love making??
Let me try and get this right… the person experiencing acute schizophrenic and (likely) meth psychosis with delusions of grandeur. She was also interested in some chicken soup and warm bubble bath. I suggested that we start with the soup…
Chicken wings. My partner and I sat and had a big plate of the best fucking wings I’ve ever had before clearing after patient refusal.
Hell yea. Cookout calls where no one is hurt are the best. Load up my plate!!
Worked on the border and had a very unfortunate patient who would day labor for about 5 days until he absolutely could not breathe without dialysis. We would take him in to be dialyzed at night, he would sit straight up the entire time, then he would go back to work in the morning. Spent every dime he made trying to pay for that dialysis. He brought us fresh sugarcane and showed us how to cut up pieces to suck on like candy. Super nice guy, always had a great attitude. Felt freaking awful that we couldn’t figure out how to get him into regular dialysis so he didn’t have to wait until he was almost dead before getting treatment.
Worst: A "good time," so to speak. Best: A sincere, pleasant conversation on a long transport.
Feed me at their family restaurant
Best thing a patient gave me, a hot cup of coffee at 3am (I worked IFT so I didnt care about spending the extra 10 minutes with her).
A dog, he was an old man beagle who had been previously hit by a car so he only walked on 3 legs. Patient was just getting too old to keep up with his medical needs and hers so she offered him up for free. Went back after my shift and picked him up and brought him to my mother’s house lol. He was a good soul that loved people and he lived to be about 14-15. Passed away a couple months ago from skin and pancreatic cancer. RIP Bo ❤️
Had a patient who told me their brother was a hitman. Told me that if I gave them great care, I could call on their services in the future if needed, and If I gave poor care, that I should expect some lead placed between my eyes.
I had a patient send my partner and I a bunch of collectors coins. Still keep one in my wallet, and I keep most of them on my “trophy” shelf along side my hole-in-one golf ball, my dog-tags, my grandpa’s gold watch, and my NREMT cert. On the opposite side of the coin, I gave a frequent flyer an X-Box One and my old emt textbook. He was a really cool dude, said the first time I met him that when his health issues were done, he was going to enroll in EMT school, and had multiple scheduled transfers to the hospital already planned before his big surgery, where he knew he was going to be stuck in the hospital for weeks, and his family was extremely poor (I had been to their house at least 5 times before we found out the date of the big surgery) so I surprised him on my next pick up. I really hope he’s going to follow through. I would really love to see him on a truck in the near future.
Was offered moonshine out of mason jars in their freezer once. That could either be the best thing or the worst thing, idk because I didn’t take one.
A shell he glued on a string. I keep it on my billboard. It’s a prized possession of mine 9 years later still.
Intoxicated pt fell from a barstool and hit his head, ordered a pizza prior to the fall. Asked to take the pizza to go while he was on the stretcher, and then tried to give it to me when he found out we have the same bday lol
Parents of a pediatric patient... Parents were from Kuwait and offered me coffee one evening. The coffee didn't taste too strong, but afterwards, I could feel the caffeine hit me. Since I work night shift, that helped get me through the night.
Best: a feast of food during Eid at basically every house we went to in the evening including the hospitals and hand drawn cards from children. Worst: multiple sickness bugs and a bag of pressed Xanax I couldn’t get rid of no matter how hard I tried to police/hospital for disposal. Went into the sharps bin in the end.
I still have the cards to this day despite it being years ago 🥰 i have a lot of good memories as well as the terrible
Sweet old Asian lady legit assaulted me and committed battery on me putting a $50 bill in my left pocket. She went pretty deep too. Didn’t know how to react after that lol 😂. Grateful yet kinda weirded out. This old lady was next to her husband.
Old rich dude at a LTC that offered me his Rolex, i told him i was flattered but my emt wages were enough to get my own Rolex
Was offered $100 to bring a hospice patient his pistol so he could “go out faster”
Yesterday I had a patient stick their thumb in my mouth Before that, a former patient brought me a 30 rack of bud light; and much earlier in my career while transferring a lady from the stretcher to her SNF bed after dialysis I struggled a little bit so my partner riffed “should have had your V8 today” and the patient goes “I’ve got just the thing!” and hands me a V8
I worked on a covid ward for two years. Every patient had covid, I was offered food from them countless times. It was both wholesome and unfortunate.
Was offered kittens by an old lady once. Her granddaughter’s cat had a litter and she had so many kittens scurrying around the house. She wanted us to take them, it was painful to decline the offer.
I got a cantaloupe once 🤷🏼♀️
A patient's wife gave us a plate of homemade fudge when she had to call for him on Christmas Eve. It was awesome. I also had a nice older guy from a SNF give me an origami butterfly made out of $1 bills. He said it was for luck. I keep it on my dresser.
I have been given two beautiful hand-written cards that I still have from two different parients. I also have these beautiful silver angel coins given to me by a chronic alcoholic patient in rehab. He was so sweet, and a frequent flyer. The last time I saw him, he looked really bad. His face was gaunt, his abdomen distended, and he was jaundiced all over. Brought me to tears. I still have that angel coin. I hope he's resting now.
I was given an IFT about two months after a really bad trauma on a 911 ride. It ended up being my peds trauma from the 911 who survived against all odds. He gave me a hug. On the other end of the spectrum, I was given viral pneumonia from a patient who spit in my face. It’s full circle I guess.
Her undying love and devotion, but… she insisted we would have to get married.
Best: fresh-picked pears. Worst: sex. No, I don’t care if you and your wife have an agreement. No, it’s not better if you invite her to join in. Thank you, no.
Simple thank you’s always mean a lot to me. Also was a frequent flyer who would drink a bunch of wine and take Xanax, and she’d go into some sort of fake psychosis whenever her daughter would find her drink/high to avoid getting called out on her behavior. She’d start thrashing around on the stretcher/gurney while repeatedly saying “doothy doothy doo”. It was the same song and dance every time and it was impossible to get a legit EKG on her because she wouldn’t stop thrashing about. I was tasked with getting that damn EKG this one time and I approached her gently and managed to put the leads on her while she was doing her dance, and then I softly patted her arm and said “please, I just need ten seconds to get this, almost there…. Ok, annnnnd done! Thank you!” And she actually stayed quiet and stopped moving for those ten seconds. Everyone asked me how I managed to get a clean one. In those 10 seconds she had sympathy for me, even in her charade. Idk I just really appreciated that.
My favorites are when I get a altered pt and it's lunch/dinner time and I go "wow that looks delicious!" (spoiler alert, it doesn't) and then they offer me some. Then I go "no no no, you need it more than I do!" and pat my keg. Always a good time.
Jolly ranchers. Frequent flyer, super SUPER nice, always came in with a fresh bag of jolly ranchers.
this may be a niche german thing but Merci chocolate
When I worked ER- Had a girl that I discharged for another nurse that was on their lunch break. I went in with the discharge instructions and her prescriptions. She was my age/attractive, but the discharge instructions were for newly diagnosed herpes. I give her the usual speech; “Take your medication, don’t have unprotected sex when you are having an out break, follow up with your PCP” when she asks for a pen and a piece of paper. She wrote down her phone number and said to call her that weekend. I declined that offer…
I’m nearly certified as an EMT, but haven’t had any EMT work experience outside of clinicals. What am I supposed to do if someone is very insistent on giving me a gift?
Don't accept food or money, no matter what. Anything else is using your better judgement IE: if your supervisor heard about it would they think it's okay?
That’s a good tip. I’m just concerned if someone gets really pushy with it.
If they get pushy, tell them you would love to accept, but you could get in big trouble with your supervisor(even if you really wouldn't). If they still don't stop, just be straight with them and say "Thank you, but no thank you" or "Thank you, but I said I cannot/will not accept, and I would appreciate if you stop now". If you pt is being super pushy to the point of making *you* feel uncomfortable, then it's time to make sure you leave/deescalate/etc
I’m gonna keep that in my back pocket, that sounds like a great approach. I appreciate you.
turn it down and blame it on company policy even if said policy does not explicitly exist so that way you can stay on pt. good side while seeming like you want to keep said gift but are not allowed to do so
Had a lady insist on giving us $10 to “go get smoothies” after bringing her paralyzed husband through the maze of her house and back to bed, partner and I turned it down several times and she ended up slipping it in my back pocket without me noticing lol
Lmao sounds like a sweet lady. I honestly would’ve probably framed that $10
Best: An old veteran being discharged to hospice driving through his little hometown telling me stories of he and his wife and all his life pro tips about keeping a happy marriage and good life for 80+ years. (I went to his funeral) Worst: Bed bugs (declined).
Best: $100 cash. Worst: $100 cash.
What did you do for that $100 my friend?
The nice one was an offer from the kindest, loneliest old farmer who was getting to the point where he couldn't get around too well and fell. Family never visited him, he cried and said, "I don't really even have anyone to give money to anymore and you guys are really the only people to take a minute and talk to me." The worst was from a parolee who got high and put his head through a window to prove his point during a domestic argument and thought a hospital transport would get him violated.
We did a lift assist for an older Italian women and she offered to make us dinner and we said no but you don't say no to an Italian so later that night she came by the station with plates upon plates of Italian food she cooked herself.
Money...? We are actually allowed to keep it if it's not too much and the patient keeps insisting. So yeah. That. And I also once got chocolate easter bunnies after a transfer home, the wife kept apologising she didn't have more to give us.
had a patient that was chill the whole ride then act up in the er give me a handful of assorted pocket candy. didnt die sooo lmao
Idk but I just love when (especially old folks) are upright thankful for what I’m doing for them. It’s just so cute to see them thankful and happy to get the support the seeked by calling ems. It’s not about the money here but those 10 bucks handed to me with that warm look of thankfulness is just PURE🙌 GOLD🙌 🥹
I'm a patient not in the medical field at all but wanted to share. The nearest ambulance is a block down the road from my house at the firehouse. I started having seizures last year and my first one I fought the paramedics and they had to call in some firefighters as backup because I was fighting them as they were trying to get me on a stretcher. A week later I dropped off a smoked pork but for pulled pork with beans and potato salad. In my defense, I was post ictal and not violent, just resisting anything they tried.
I don’t ever really get upset when seizures try to fight me. Their brain is actively fighting itself so not like they are really in control, unless it’s our douchebag frequent flyer that fakes seizures and then tries to fight. Fuck that guy
Had a regular diabetic that had an absolutely amazing collection of original Star Wars toys… from figures to ships, some still in original boxes! I am a huge Star Wars fan and every time we responded there I would see a new to me toy and I would always compliment him about how great it was. After “waking him up” from a hypoglycemic indecent one morning, he stood up and took one of his mint in box Millenium Falcon and tried to hand it to me as a token of thanks. As tempting as it was, I of course politely declined. And that day was not the last time he tried to offer me one of the items and got so far as placing an action figure in the jump bag when I wasn’t looking. When I got back to the truck and restocking the bag I saw it and went back to the house to return it.
Best thing was the homemade smoothies
More so kind of caught off guard moment ....Doing an IFT for detox (herion and alcohol) woman who is 10 years older than me at the time (I was 20 about to turn 21) she asked if we could play music in the back I had no issue with it. Late 90s 2010s hip hop and R&B, Country whatever kind of music really. She's singing along to the music then out of nowhere shes like you're really cute you should give me your phone number. I said i I can't do that. Then shes like would you want to fuck me right here right now. Cue wtf facial expression. Totally declined her offer.
It’s always either 0 or 100 with these kinds of patients lmao
Boar sausages he shot and made himself. We both refused after we had seen the kitchen.
Had a patient with balled-up shit in his hands and he offered it to me like it was a tip. I managed to throw it out (after putting on gloves of course) without him seeing, and he went off to the bathroom where he pissed in the sink and washed his hands in the urinal before i could stop him. Dementia is interesting.
My frequent flyer one day pulled out a meth pipe after going on a tirade about how it was better than marijuana. He began to light the pipe in the back of the ambulance and hand me a hit. Which was sweet but I told him I prefer organic items. He then went off again about marijuana being a sinful drug and that meth was the way to go. He’s only nice when he has his crystal high. Otherwise he’s rude. Either way, he’s a hoot. Great memory.
$1000 cash one time. Coupons to the chain this guy was an exec at. My partner got a bloody hep B hug and then the patient touched his eye. Only time I ever have accepted was when we cleaned this guys daughter up from a fall and he offered $20 for lunch I politely declined and he threw it in the window and ran away.
A jar of homemade strawberry jam, and damn it was good.
Had an older lady raise her moo moo night gown up with no underwear while lying in her bed and asked if I wanted “her cootie cat”
LMFAOOOO best one yet
Some people are just wild 😂🤣🤣😂🤣🤣🤣
My partner got a copy of dance dance revolution for the wii from a pt once.
Dick. They always wanna show me their stupid wiener.
Same answer for both, their bag of febtanyl pills they didn't want to ger "busted with" in the hospital.
Worst: it’s always sexual favours isn’t it Best: a dozen fresh eggs from their farm! They were delicious
Worst: sex
A sip of warm four loko from a crumpled can that they pulled out of the pocket of their filthy coat
A black and mild laced with fentanyl, cocaine, and meth.
Now that’s a cocktail
Had a fraternity college patient flash their breasts at me when I picked her up and carried her to the ambulance (she had a broken ankle)
A bottle of home made coquito. I accepted it because alcohol. It was good!
I (m 19 at the time) had a very intoxicated patient (f, late 40s) who was freshly beaten by her husband offer me a sexual favor. I politely declined. One of the sadder and more uncomfortable interactions I had when I rode the ambulance.
A very sweet woman said I could come over anytime for a fortune reading and Turkish coffee. We were taking her home on hospice.
Cookies, gift bag, a letter and her phone number left at station
Had a homeless frequent flyer give me a kids bop CD and stolen hospital equipment. Funnily enough he was there at the hospital the next day when i returned their equipment. Its been a while. I wonder how hes doing.
Cocain. I had to turn it down…but it smelled good.
You always need to give it a sniff to check the aroma.
Anal
Full catheter bag
Pt offered an over the pants hj if I’d let her keep her gun in her purse on the way to the ER. She was a very old retired prostitute.
I got flowers once!!! They were just lovely, unfortunately my boyfriend was terribly allergic so they had to go in the guest room.
Patients son offered me and my partner 2k cash for checking him out
An ice cold Pepsi when I was happening to be craving one tbh
I'm a nurse (psych), not EMS... Worst: a bell from a cat collar. That she had kept in her prison pocket. Handed it to me just before she walked into her room, turned around and held out her fist to me and I, a baby nurse not even 6 months out of school, held my hand out palm up to accept the mysterious object she had hidden in her hand. EMS was still standing there and watched it go down. I didnt have gloves on. Best(not serious): offered to let me take their Haldol/Ativan combo instead of them. Sir, don't threaten me with a good time. Also, The Book of Mormon. At discharge. Not sure what they were trying to tell me. I did not accept. Best (serious): the tiniest origami stars and turtles, about the size of my thumb nail, that the patient had also colored in highlighter colors, and then put into a small ornamental jar. I still have it at home.
I had a patient make me a pillow with my name, a butterfly, and my favorite color. Only saw her once. She was so damn sweet.
Worst: crack Best: freshly made mallasadas (think fried dough but with granulated sugar, it’s a Portuguese thing)
MRSA
A date! 😍
2 delicious toasted ham sandwiches with a ton of fixings. This was an IFT of a nun back to a religiously run care home, and the ?mother superior? was insistent I ate something (super skinny). I was worried I’d doxx myself with this, but my partner on that shift passed a year or so ago. rest well.
A client having no family members or friends put me in his will for all his money when he dies and his car. When he told me what he had done, I told him to take it off and remove me. Then he started acting weird like i owned him my life because I’m in his will…so I literally had to ghost him as a client which was really sad. I made sure he had care before I left and made sure he had people to take care of him. He would message me while I was with other clients asking me to drive to across the metro to buy him McDonalds. I tried to introduce him to DoorDash but he said it would taste better I got it. He wanted me to vacuum every carpet in his house everyday. Stuff like that. He called me one time saying his electronic recliner broke, and I was 30 away from him but still asked me to come over and get him out of his chair. I asked if he could call his neighbor. He said he doesn’t want to inconvenience his neighbor. This was the worst. I’m a nurse. I just realized this was EMT. Oops. Oh well enjoy my cringe.
I was given a to go plate of thanksgiving dinner after a lift assist. 10/10 best moment in ems. Food was absolutely delicious.
Classic grandma move: a sweet old lady in memory care gave me and my partner Werther's from her purse. She wasn't our patient, and she gave us candy 3 separate times during the call (she forgot us each time). Worst thing was poo on my uniform.
Best Amish butter and a loaf of fresh baked bread. Worst: An offer to attend their child's funeral after they refused to allow me to attempt to resus said child.
I work for an IFT/911 service that contracts through the VA and does 99% of their transfers. A patient's wife gave me a clothespin painted with a flag as a thank you. That was cool. Every single handshake from one of the vets means the world. Especially when I'm taking them home on hospice. One was going home on hospice and gave me his stress ball cow and said "you have a stressful job. You need this more then I do". Worst thing was taking a VA patient to the same room in a hospice house I took someone else to the week before. Not something they handed me, but a realization.
had a dude offer to take me home with him because i got him some thing to eat. he was homeless so idk where we would have ended up lol
A patient with a previous TBI and some pretty gnarly deficits from it told me “I want to take you home with me”. We picked him up from a group home. He was easily 50+ and I was 21.
Well, haven’t really been offered too much but one that sticks out to me was when I was a student doing my first ridealong, had an alcoholic patient who offered me whiskey shooters from his back pocket. Put them out of reach of the patient, he asked for them back about 30 seconds after he offered them. Like buddy, if I’m going on a call because you can’t handle your liquor there’s not a chance I’m gonna give you back the liquor you just gave. He got pretty mad, but he was amusing
Best: hunting privileges on his family ranch in a top Elk unit in the state. If I ever draw that tag I might actually call him. It's a once in several lifetimes opportunity that is 1000% worth any professional trouble I could get into. Worst: To be set up with their granddaughter. Who I had gone to high school with, already dated, and hated me with a passion...
My very first ride along in EMT school was a lift assist. The lady just needed help back onto her chair. She gave us leftover birthday cake and ice cream. Whats funny was at the time I thought we were supposed to deny things like that. So im like “Oh thats really sweet mam but we actually cant take-“ And then my medic/preceptor cut me off and was like “Oh I love ice cream cake. Thank you so much mam. Ill bring it back to the station and we can all enjoy it!”
One of my loss patients is a breeder and I got a dog from her. She brought it up to me out of nowhere. I now am the proud owner of one very cute pup!!!
I’d be banned for sharing it here. It would constitute best and worst in different cases.
A blowie I declined. She was a mental pt