As a follow up exercise to our substance misuse lectures we were given a scenario to assess and discuss potential approaches the situation in a group.
The scenario that my group was allocated was: ‘you are called to the SOS bus where Javan, aged 18 has been taken by his friend. Javan appears to be experiencing hallucinations, and is agitated and confused. His friend says that Javan has been “having problems peeing recently” and he thinks that he snorted some ‘grainy white powder’ which he thinks is called ‘special K’ he has an inhaler like the one in the picture’ As a group we first looked at how we would approach this scenario from a paramedic point of view.
The initial approach was the standard response, of a primary survey to assess the patient following …show more content…
• Does he take drugs regularly?
• Is he abusing drugs?
• Is he dependant?
• What is his mental health like?
• Is he self-medicating?
• Can this patient cope?
• Does this patient have a dual diagnoses?
• Was this overdose done on purpose?
• What is Javan’s home life like?
After thinking about these questions, I was led to consider Javan’s continuing needs, primarily he would need a mental health assessment to answer the above questions and subsequently a decision of what further help and support would be appropriate for Javan.
The purpose of the exercise, to analyse a scenario in a different way has in my opinion been achieved. I feel that a development of my skills has occurred and in assessing a patient, i will look for the psychosocial aspects of patient’s presentations in addition to the clinical. This skill will be important to me as a practitioner because I will need to understand the health of my patients through a holistic approach rather than a purely medical approach. I am confident that I will now assess each individual physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually in order to provide a better level of care and
The scenario that my group was allocated was: ‘you are called to the SOS bus where Javan, aged 18 has been taken by his friend. Javan appears to be experiencing hallucinations, and is agitated and confused. His friend says that Javan has been “having problems peeing recently” and he thinks that he snorted some ‘grainy white powder’ which he thinks is called ‘special K’ he has an inhaler like the one in the picture’ As a group we first looked at how we would approach this scenario from a paramedic point of view.
The initial approach was the standard response, of a primary survey to assess the patient following …show more content…
• Does he take drugs regularly?
• Is he abusing drugs?
• Is he dependant?
• What is his mental health like?
• Is he self-medicating?
• Can this patient cope?
• Does this patient have a dual diagnoses?
• Was this overdose done on purpose?
• What is Javan’s home life like?
After thinking about these questions, I was led to consider Javan’s continuing needs, primarily he would need a mental health assessment to answer the above questions and subsequently a decision of what further help and support would be appropriate for Javan.
The purpose of the exercise, to analyse a scenario in a different way has in my opinion been achieved. I feel that a development of my skills has occurred and in assessing a patient, i will look for the psychosocial aspects of patient’s presentations in addition to the clinical. This skill will be important to me as a practitioner because I will need to understand the health of my patients through a holistic approach rather than a purely medical approach. I am confident that I will now assess each individual physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually in order to provide a better level of care and