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The heavy burden of medicine
By BBC Doctor Colin Thomas
One could be excused for thinking it is only jobs like construction, mining and deep sea fishing that can cause serious injury at work.
But working in healthcare is not without its dangers - as many nurses will readily testify.
When you stop to think about regularly lifting of 10-12 stones of 'dead' weight it is not surprising to discover that most of the nurses I know suffer from back problems.
Have you ever tried picking up or moving someone who is injured? It is far from easy.
I think much of the problem stems from their training where, with a young frame, lack of experience, and heavy lifting work they are storing up problems for later on in life.
The fact is that back damage happens gradually over a number of years, until perhaps a trivial injury becomes the straw that breaks the camel's back.
I'm afraid I was not immune to the potential damage inflicted at the front line of healthcare.
As a casualty officer you are always at the "sharp end".
Emergency admission
One could be excused for thinking it is only jobs like construction, mining and deep sea fishing that can cause serious injury at work.
But working in healthcare is not without its dangers - as many nurses will readily testify.
When you stop to think about regularly lifting of 10-12 stones of 'dead' weight it is not surprising to discover that most of the nurses I know suffer from back problems.
Have you ever tried picking up or moving someone who is injured? It is far from easy.
I think much of the problem stems from their training where, with a young frame, lack of experience, and heavy lifting work they are storing up problems for later on in life.
The fact is that back damage happens gradually over a number of years, until perhaps a trivial injury becomes the straw that breaks the camel's back.
I'm afraid I was not immune to the potential damage inflicted at the front line of healthcare.
As a casualty officer you are always at the "sharp end".
Emergency admission
I was struggling to breathe because of the vice like grip he was exerting and I was beginning to think this might be the end for me  |
Dr Colin Thomas
|
We had an emergency admission of a man who appeared to be semiconscious.
We were told that he had fallen out of a window, and assumed that he had also hit his head.
While waiting for a neurosurgical opinion it was my job to patch up a wound at the base of his thumb which was bleeding profusely.
I was in the process of searching for the bleeding blood vessel so that I could tie it off with a ligature.
Suddenly, and without warning, the patient - a big man of at least 6ft5ins - reared up on the bed and, whilst I was still attached to him by my catgut ligature, caught me in a neck lock.
He then proceeded to drag me around the casualty department by my neck, brandishing a heavy metal fire extinguisher that he had acquired on the way.
I was struggling to breathe because of the vice like grip he was exerting and I was beginning to think this might be the end for me.
As luck would have it there were two male nurses on duty that day in casualty and they managed, thank goodness, to free me.
Rather brave, I thought in view of the fire extinguisher weapon.
It turned out that he was a psychiatric patient who had been discharged as 'well' the previous day.
It still makes me uneasy, and in fact writing this now I can feel my palms starting to sweat.
However, the best thing I did was to go straight back to work after just two days to recover from the physical neck injury.
I suppose you could say, as with many health professionals, I considered this an occupational hazard.
I was lucky, I got over it - but not everyone is so fortunate.
We were told that he had fallen out of a window, and assumed that he had also hit his head.
While waiting for a neurosurgical opinion it was my job to patch up a wound at the base of his thumb which was bleeding profusely.
I was in the process of searching for the bleeding blood vessel so that I could tie it off with a ligature.
Suddenly, and without warning, the patient - a big man of at least 6ft5ins - reared up on the bed and, whilst I was still attached to him by my catgut ligature, caught me in a neck lock.
He then proceeded to drag me around the casualty department by my neck, brandishing a heavy metal fire extinguisher that he had acquired on the way.
I was struggling to breathe because of the vice like grip he was exerting and I was beginning to think this might be the end for me.
As luck would have it there were two male nurses on duty that day in casualty and they managed, thank goodness, to free me.
Rather brave, I thought in view of the fire extinguisher weapon.
It turned out that he was a psychiatric patient who had been discharged as 'well' the previous day.
It still makes me uneasy, and in fact writing this now I can feel my palms starting to sweat.
However, the best thing I did was to go straight back to work after just two days to recover from the physical neck injury.
I suppose you could say, as with many health professionals, I considered this an occupational hazard.
I was lucky, I got over it - but not everyone is so fortunate.
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