(Snippets from the frontline)
Paramedic on the frontline
She’s a paramedic being treated for Valley Fever, a fungal lung infection common in our area. Obsessively, she followed symptoms while monitoring oxygen levels and blood pressure readings.
Over a weekend, she developed a cough with fever and low oxygen prompting a visit to the local hospital emergency room. Lab work and chest x-ray were negative, and she was sent home.
During the follow-up visit, she was profoundly upset. “In the hospital ER, no one, including the doctor, listened to my lungs. As a matter-of-fact, the physician never came within 4 feet of me. In the field, I have to assess every patient to provide a complete evaluation possibly even to save their life! I have written a complaint letter to the hospital, The Joint Commission, the County and State Department of Public Health, and reported the doctor to the Medical Board!”
We agreed that along with a patient’s history, the physical exam is a major component of searching for the etiology of a problem. Business now allots minimum time to assess patients, while technology has taken over medicine.
A complete evaluation though is mandatory in providing professional medical care.
Just ask a paramedic.
Gene Uzawa Dorio, M.D.
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