Thu 3 Jul 2008
Triage:
The process of prioritizing sick or injured people for treatment according to the seriousness of the condition or injury.
Tuesday, around 2:00 PM, a woman interrupted what I was doing and begged me to help her find some “butterfly” bandages. Her neighbor had told her that “butterflies” would hit the spot. She was a little flustered and I had to settle her down.
“Who needs the butterflies?” I asked. “How deep is the wound? How long is the cut?”
She couldn’t stop stuttering. “I.. uh.. I.. there is a lot of blood.”
“Relax,” I said. “Tell me more.”
“My son. He was cutting a big chunk of Parmesan cheese into little chunks so I could shred it.”
A very rude customer butted in and asked me where the Huggies were located. I turned my back on him. “Where is your son now?” I asked.
“Huggies?” The guy was persistent. “I’m looking for Huggies.”
The woman gave the Huggies man a look. “My son is in the car bleeding.”
The Huggies guy turned and walked away on the word bleeding.
“You better bring your son into the store. I’ll look at the cut.”
Two minutes later this kid around fifteen years old came in with his mother. He had his hand wrapped in a terry cloth towel. I couldn’t see any blood until he released the towel. There was the wound, a cut to the quick of the ham part of his right palm. An inch and a half gash that was wide open. He had managed to get through the yellowy fat layer. He had gotten right down into the meat.
I gave my usual disclaimer, “I am not a doctor. I do not diagnose. But it looks to me that he will need some suturing and you better get him to the emergency room at UTMB.
”
“I’m just visiting my sister.” She stuttered again. My advice about the emergency room made her as jumpy as a bug on a hot pan.
“Go right down 4th Street to Harborside. Take a left and keep looking to your left. The entrance to emergency is less than a mile from 4th.”
“Okay.” They started to leave.
“Just a second,” I added. “I have some advice. You will have to wait in emergency. I think you better buy some Betadine Solution and squirt it all over that hand before wrap it up again.”
“You think?”
“Will it hurt?” A whine from the fifteen year old.
I told her that this Betadine step was very important. She followed my advice. I watched her apply the solution liberally. The kid cringed, then looked at me. “You’re right. It doesn’t hurt.”
This is TRIAGE. This happens thousands of times a day in pharmacies all over the United States.
Triage is a three point thing at the pharmacy.
1. ” THAT’S MOST LIKELY NOT A PROBLEM. I WOULDN’T WORRY ABOUT IT”. or 2. “I CAN HELP YOUR SYMPTOMS WITH AN OVER-THE-COUNTER PRODUCT”. or 3. “YOU BETTER GET YOUR ASS TO THE DOCTOR OR THE EMERGENCY ROOM”.
Have you noticed that #3 doesn’t happen that often? With numbers 1 & 2, pharmacists save the medical system millions of dollars… possibly every day. Otherwise, most of the #1 or #2 will end up in the emergency room to the tune of a few hundred bucks each.
What we do saves a ton of money and what do we get? We get absolutely NOTHING. And we keep on doing it. I like doing it. It has always felt good to use my knowledge to make a difference for someone. Is this perseveration? A bona fide mental condition. Where you keep on doing the same thing over and over expecting a more satisfying result.
THEY ARE NEVER GOING TO PAY US WILLINGLY… NEVER!
So, talk to me. What do we do?
I suggest you look to the right and click on the link to “The Pharmacy Alliance” website.
That’s the best advice I have. Individually, we can get nothing done.
Do you have your personal NPI# yet? Paul Trusten can tell you how. He is the person who got me started in the right direction. It will take only minutes.