Thursday, October 08, 2009
gripping
a patient i knew previously was court ordered to the state institution. the patient was alarmed and called to me by my name. the patient asked me to hold their hand and pray for them. all i could do was try and smile, appear "OK" and say, "you'll be OK". the patient repeatedly asked me for the time, of which i updated on each minute the person asked. within 5 minutes time, the person was gone. i cried on the way home.
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7 comments:
Hi Stephany,
Sounds like a very difficult 5 minutes.
Love,
Herrad
Oh it was, the person never had a visitor at least when i was there the last almost 40 days. what a shock, they took the person out strapped to a gurney. thought i would cry my eyes out, had to hold it inside until in the car. sad, very sad this system. the person is older too.
The system is run and enforced by individuals.
RE the "strapped to a gurney"
There must have been an incident at one time to make this manditory. So the other 99% noncriminal have to pay the price for one person.
Same with noise pollution, Every truck makes a loud Beep Beep when they back up. This law intended to protect the workers, creates untold noise pollution , inhibiting people from enjoying life and increasing mental stress/mental illness.
There is a solution to the loud Beep Beep today, using different technology to alert of danger, but there is no motivation to retrofit.
I don't think the people who invented the law envisioned all the trucks backing up going beep, heard for miles.
RE:The gurney, the handlers should have the ability to choose or not depending on the "patients" violentness.
It's mandatory to be strapped to the gurneys for transport from the ambulance company protocol, and the ambulance is how they transport ppl from one hospital to the other and to mental health court too. yes, treated like criminals and dangerous ppl even if they are not. this older person was difficult for me to see this happen to, it was pretty upsetting. and this happens all the time in these places, the person will be at the institution minimum 90 days on court order, and could be longer if a family member or advocate isnt there to help. i was going to ask if the person wanted me to visit, i could advocate that way...and the whole thing happened so fast i couldnt do anything, and privacy laws prevent anyone from inquiring at the institution unless the person signed consent to have visitor, etc. really difficult to be in such an inhumane feeling environment daily.
So to speak, your plate is full Stephany, you are not responsible to help other people other than family.
This breaks my heart Steph.
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thanks everyone, a lot
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