I'm new here and am questioning my wisdom on posting to a site such as this, but if I gain some insight from someone with similar experience then perhaps it will be worth my time.
First, an introduction - I'm a doctor in an ER in Colorado (Boulder to be exact). The only verification I'll give is that our hospital uses a set of guidelines called Encore Values that are specific and unique to our small community hospital. We have several campuses including an original location and a new facility that has been open for a few years now. The following incident occurred at the former. If you need proof of my own validity you can easily figure out which hospital I'm referring to and simply call and ask them whether or not we use "Encore Values" as part of our mission statement. That should at least go some distance in giving me a smattering of credibility. As for the account that I am about to relate, I can offer no proof. I can only tell you what happened.
Three nights ago I was in the middle of my shift and was having a relatively quiet evening, especially for a weekend. We were then given a heads up about a multiple victim accident that had occurred on The Diagonal (a highway that leads into town here). I took on one of the incoming and will describe the patient as "him" although I will say that it may have been a man or a woman. Because of HIPPA regulations I cannot reveal any information that may relate to his/her identity. I will refer to this patient simply as "scalp lac" due to their only visible injury.
The patient came in and seemed to be altered and because a head injury was involved I had a nurse draw labs and immediately sent the patient down for a head CT. The results were negative (no bleeds or trauma to the brain noted). The patient had a particularly nasty scalp laceration that we addressed successfully and I felt we would probably send this patient on their way after our workup was complete.
As I was reviewing another patient's chart that was also involved in the accident I was alerted by the nurse that "scalp lac" was requesting my attention. I went into the room and the patient seemed agitated although not altered as previously noted. As I entered he asked me if he could trust me. I smiled and assured him that he could. Patients from time to time need reassurance and I began to wonder again about the patient's mental well-being. I asked what was on his mind and I pulled up an exam stool and sat beside him. As I reached out to pat his arm as I often do with patients he recoiled and knocked over a metal rolling table next to his bed and also dislodged his pulse ox monitor from his index finger as well as pulling the lead from his BP cuff.
The nurse stepped into the doorway and motioned for security. I looked back at her and gave a nod to let her know that it was ok. The patient then stated, "Don't touch me. I'm hot right now." I assured him that no one would touch him and asked him where and how he felt hot.
This is the conversation that followed:
"I feel hot. I know things then. I know things about you now because I'm hot."
"Where do you feel hot? Are you in pain? We need to get your monitors back in place. Is that ok?"
"No. I'm hot right now. Don't touch me. I know things when I'm hot."
At this point I was about to ask the nurse for a particular medication to help with the situation. She's a very good nurse and was likely well aware of what I was about to ask. And then he asked me,
"Does your wife know about the green book?"
At this point I turned and told the nurse to give us a moment. His statement had taken me off guard. As the nurse pulled the privacy curtain and stepped away, I asked him what he meant.
"I'm hot right now. I know things. I know about the green book you got for her."
The green book he mentioned was a gift for my wife that no person knew of except myself and the bookbinder/artist that I'd commissioned to do the work. It was a rebinding of some of her grandfather's journals that had been very dear to her. I was completely surprised. I've had patients before who said things that were astute or instinctively accurate but this was something he simply could not know.
I asked him how he knew of the book. He replied, "I know about the book and where you were married in Bali. I know about the lunch you hated today. I know why you didn't wear your socks like she asked."
At this point, my heart was racing. I was completely off my game and embarrassed to admit my diagnostic skills were the last thing I was thinking of. My wife and I had indeed gotten married in Bali. I had really disliked the lunch I had earlier in the day, but hadn't done anything about it. And my wife had gotten me new socks which weren't very comfortable and my other socks that I normally wear were all in the dirty linens, so I opted to go without socks. These three seemingly disparate facts were incredibly accurate. I sat stunned for a few seconds and thought this very though - "this guy is either high or I am." This was my mind's silly way of dealing with an inexplicable situation. I am never high as I neither drink nor certainly use any sort of illicit substance. We see quite a number of intoxicated and/or substance abusing individuals in our ER just as nearly any ER in the US does. I'd quietly made a small dig at his expense in my mind. The patient then looked at me and stated quite matter-of-factly,
"I'm not high and you aren't either."
I called the nurse in and asked her to clear a few things for me and requested that two things be done for "scalp lacs" care. She exited the room and I rolled closer to the patient and assured him that I wasn't going to touch him. One of the things I'd asked the nurse to do was call for a psych consult. I truly didn't know what to do with the patient at this point. I was nothing if not fully intrigued though. I asked him how he knew these things.
He replied, "I know these things because I'm hot right now."
"Yes, you've mentioned that several times already. Are you physically hot? Do you mean that you're in discomfort or pain?"
"No, I'm hot. That's what my trainers call it. When I'm hot I know things. I know things you think and I know things that will happen."
"Like what? What am I thinking of?"
At this point I thought of something medical that a layman wouldn't know, but even if they DID have training would be so random that a guess would be out of the question. I thought of a condition called osteogenesis imperfecta.
"Osteogenesis imperfecta." That's all he said. He slightly mispronounced the second word, but he said it. At this point I was seriously questioning what was happening. I've never had anything unexplained or supernatural or otherwise occur in my life. I nearly became emotional. I asked him how he knew that.
"They train me. I know things, but they train me. I know what you think when I'm hot and I know things that will happen. Barrack will win, but she will not concede."
That statement didn't make complete sense until tonight. I mean, one could perhaps guess with events occurring this week that this series of things would transpire, but after everything he'd said previous to this he had my attention. As I watched the results tonight I sat in disbelief as his exact words fell into place even amidst the surprise of the political pundits as they talked about how they expected Hillary to concede the nomination.
After this statement he and I spoke for another twenty minutes. He allowed us to get his vitals again and everything was fine. Labs came back normal. He seemed completely coherent other than an odd terse format to his language.
- Continued later
