It’s All In The Delivery

“I’m dying.”

Two little words than can mean everything, or absolutely nothing, to an EMS provider.

If your patient looks very sick – ghostly pale, sweaty, sick – and they say those words to you, soberly and matter-of-factly, you’d best get ready to work a resuscitation. We call that the “profound sense of impending doom,” and it happens often enough that the wise medical provider pays it heed.

On the other hand, if the declaration is accompanied by much anguished moaning, screaming, teeth gnashing and Scarlett O’Hara dramatics…

… you can be reasonably certain that, despite our fondest wishes, the patient is not dying, and will likely be discharged home straight from the Emergency Department.