I Don't Like Science Tests!

To the third floor of the business building on campus we respond for a 20 year old having a seizure. When we arrived the class room is empty of students except the one we're here to help. The professor tells us they were taking a test when this student started shaking and went to the floor. The patient is alert and oriented to time, place person and date and is now complaining of abdominal cramps and neck pain. The patient is not from this country and speaks good English except when answering certain questions, then she can't understand. We explain she needs to be scene by a doctor and should go by ambulance to the hospital and she agrees to being transported. A c-collar is applied and the patient is log rolled onto a back board with straps in place she is carried down the stairs to the cot. After the patient is loaded into the ambulance a detailed assessment is preformed, she is placed on the heart monitor and an IV is established. The lead medic calls the hospital and informs them we will be arriving soon and gives the RN on the line a patient report. Suddenly the patient decides she does not want to be transported. We explain the possible complications of not being evaluated by a doctor and the danger of further harm and even death as a result of this action. She insists and answers all questions appropriately. We have no choice because it's her choice. So after twenty-five minutes of work and hauling equipment up and down stairs, we put some clean sheets on the cot and tidy up the back of the ambulance. Ready for the next one!