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Why do paramedics do observations on there patients

Even if it's a minor injuries they get called to. Why do they have to check your vital signs.
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Weren't you ran over by a car? It's glaringly obvious why a paramedic would want to assess someone in that sort of situation.
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Avatar for Kindred
Kindred
20
Original post by angel shaw
Even if it's a minor injuries they get called to. Why do they have to check your vital signs.


They have a duty to make sure everybody is okay when they leave their care, which means doing basic checks on everybody. It may not be necessary all the time, but it's a policy they need to follow.
That said, I'm not a paramedic so I don't know exact policy or anything.
Would you prefer to be treated according to how you present or that they take a wild guess?
“ we haven’t had a stroke yet today, let’s go with that. Just because “
What a stupid question
Kind of a fair enough question tbh. A minor injury doesn't necessarily need them.

A key reason would be uncertainty. The history is not always immediately clear straight after an incident, and there could be more going on than meets the eye. Perhaps a "minor injury" was in fact a significant car accident with the patient trying to wave it off as nothing.

But like many things in modern medicine, protection from litigation is also a key motivation. They probably do it way more than they need to.
Reply 6
Avatar for Zarek
Zarek
21
It's a quick and simple indicator of someone's state of health. If you've rocked up at someone's house at the cost of a few hundred pounds to NHS then why not. The only time it may not be indicated is basic first aid, a graze or the like.
It's really important not to forget to do things in emergency situations. One easy way to ensure this is to do the same thing every time. If this means that someone unnecessarily has their blood pressure taken that's ok. It's conceivable that underlying, unknown conditions might be revealed by taking a basic set of observations.
Their job is to get information about the patient and get the patient to hospital so that definitive care can be provided. You don't want to get to ED and be asked by the doctor, "What are the sats?" and not know because that's embarrassing.

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