ER and bloody clothes

Collapse

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • ER and bloody clothes

    I tried to google this but the question is just way too long.

    What does the ER do with someone who has brought in an injured person and thier clothes have gotten bloody? The uninjured person.

    I'm not talking about a splotch here or there.
    But soaked.

    I've been in and out of the ER quite a few times in my life (more frequently now that I have children) and never once have I seen a bloody person standing around in the waiting room or the ER hallway.

    Is there a special room where they have these people wait?
    Do they have them clean up, give them a change of clothes or something?

    Thanks.
    Are you going to write "Trust me" in the query?"
    by BellaBella

  • #2
    Re: ER and bloody clothes

    As long as the person isn't injured themself, and the blood isn't known to be hazardous, I would imagine they just let the person be. Perhaps they could offer a gown, but I don't think the ER would really be able to take special measures just to clean up an uninjured person.

    I suppose some hospitals have on-site laundry for the sheets. If a person was stuck there a long time, maybe you could justify some kind soul letting the person wash their bloody clothes. (I'd guess you mean some relative who brings in a wounded person and gets bloody in the process?)

    But I tend to doubt it's a common enough occurence to have a uniform way of dealing with it.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: ER and bloody clothes

      Also depends on the how the injured person was injured. If the circumstances are questionable, clothes can be seized as evidence for any future police investigation.
      "The only reason most scripts are bad is because most people can't write." Leslie Dixon

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: ER and bloody clothes

        Actually, now that I've been pondering on it a bit more, the person who finds a victim usually doesn't get that much blood on them unless they have to move or transport the person.

        In the vast majority of injury cases you would call 911 and then maybe apply pressure to the wound. So really, unless it's spurting from a vein, you won't get soaked.

        You see people in movies covered with the victims blood because the person is dead and a loved one has grabbed a hold of them in grief throes thinking they are all ready dead.

        However, if a non victim were to get covered I really can't imagine a hospital allowing a bloody person to be hanging out in the waiting room. Wouldn't that freak out all the other patrons?
        "For the seventh time, NO I am not dressed up as Carrie!"

        And if they do take your clothes for evidence (which makes sense) would you just hang out in your skivies?

        And would you then be arrested for indecent exposure?
        Are you going to write "Trust me" in the query?"
        by BellaBella

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: ER and bloody clothes

          For most accidents or incidents that do not involve any crimes/crime scene collection I'd think most ERs would discard the blood soaked items or destroy them to avoid any hazmat/HIV-bloodborne issues. If these items are connected to a law enforcement case or need to be saved for legal reasons then they would be placed in sealed special containers to be checked by the ME(medical staff) and/or crime scene techs. For detailed information see; www.copsnwriters.com www.osha.gov www.hhs.gov .

          All the best;

          Beefy

          I'd rather get bank credit, than screen credit.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: ER and bloody clothes

            They would hand him/her some scrubs and a bag for the bloody clothes and send them to the bathroom to change. They do have separate rooms for family members of critical patients to gather and have some privacy... been there, unfortunately.
            You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star. -- Nietzsche

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: ER and bloody clothes

              That is more like what I was thinking Chaos.
              So now you have an ordinary person with medical scrubs on, or maybe even a gown.

              I'm sure there are all kinds of ways to work such a scenerio into stories.

              Sorry for your experiance.

              Beef, I was kind of thinking the doctors would be concerned about cross contamination as well. You wouldn't be able to test and know right away whether that blood was infectious or not. So if there was enough of it (and in my scripts case there is ) then it would seem logical to deal with it in some way.
              Are you going to write "Trust me" in the query?"
              by BellaBella

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: ER and bloody clothes

                I have avoided answering this question because I thought maybe somebody with experience as an ER employee might answer, but it appears that is not going to happen.

                So I will answer it from my experience as a physician, with the caveat that the doctors do not always know the details of things like this unless they work specifically in the ER.

                There is no set policy for clothes that everybody follows. A lot of people come in with dirty or bloody clothes from various kinds of accidents. These are not necessarily changed or thrown away. It just depends on how bad the situation is.

                In the case of a garment with blood that is known to be infectious (HIV, hepatitis), it would most likely be destroyed as medical waste.

                Again, you just have to consider every situation.

                The type of facilities available for changing and for family to wait depends on the size of the ER. Small ERs may not have anything special. At our small hospital there is a room that is sometimes used for families of victims, but it is also sometimes used for bodies of DOA people who are waiting for their ride to the funeral home.

                "The fact that you have seen professionals write poorly is no reason for you to imitate them." - ComicBent.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: ER and bloody clothes

                  Hmm, maybe it's time to describe my scene a little bit and see if that helps out a bit more.

                  The victim has been cut up in a bathroom stall. We don't see the attack or the injuries.
                  His friend comes in and finds him.

                  The scene in question has the friend anxiously waiting in the lounge area.
                  A member of the family comes in with the gang leader. The family member reacts when she sees the blood on the guy's cloths.

                  The point of this little scene is to set up the reactions of the family and gang members and indicate the seriousness of the attack by the amount of blood. Actually SHOWING the victim isn't necessary because he isn't the focus of the scene. The reaction to it is.

                  But every time I work on this scene it just seems wierd that he would be standing out in public all bloodied up.

                  I guess the solution would be to have him stay back in a family lounge and that forces the characters in to closer proximity.

                  The story is set in Harlem.
                  Are you going to write "Trust me" in the query?"
                  by BellaBella

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: ER and bloody clothes

                    Scripter,
                    I'm not sure if I can help but I'll add what I know about ER's. I worked in one of the largest in the country for several years. Your scene has a couple of problems if it's set in Harlem. The only hospital I've been in around NYC is Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn but most are big and busy. The one I worked at (Parkland ER in Dallas) had a triage center where a nurse directed traffic and sent patients to various departments of the ER, yes there were over fifty nurses working in the ER alone and a lot more residents. They mainly staff teaching hospitals.

                    But this scene doesn't work for me because if your protag found his bloody friend all cut up he'd call 911, right? And fire rescue gets there first, they'd see it's a stabbing, call the police. They'd stablilize the patient, and take only the patient in the ambulance. This "come on along" you see in movies has never happened in my experience. So the guy has to find a ride to the hospital, right? Call a cab I guess, most don't have cars, or the entire family has one car. But the biggest question is why would the cops let him leave? He's the prime suspect, they'd want to question him. And cops would be there before the ambulance guys left most likely.

                    So he wouldn't get to the scene before family's notified, he'd be detained by the cops, probably at the scene. It would be hours later he'd get to the ER to check on his friend. The cops could call in for him but he wouldn't be let go that soon.

                    To answer your question, in large ER's there is one waiting room and a security guard with a gun who will not let you past the "double doors" without someone from the back coming to get you. I worked triage and had a gun pulled on me once. The guy didn't get past security. No way would this scene take place back in the ER. The waiting room, maybe, but why wouldn't your protag have the cabbie take him home, get a quick shower, and then get to the ER? Only in car accidents where the friends were actual victims did we see a lot of bloody clothes.

                    If someone comes in with bloody clothes they get cut off if they can't take them off and go in bags.

                    You could do the scene where he's so distraught he goes straight to the ER but the family would still beat him to it there. And really so would the gang members because they wouldn't be detained at the scene. So unless he drives the guy in himself, not likely in Harlem, the timing is a problem.

                    If somebody comes back with bloody clothes, they're bagged. Considered contaminated waste. I once took off a homeless guy's shoe and found a dead mouse in the shoe. Anybody with no clothes or cut up clothes would probably get one or two of those disposable gowns, with their clothes in a bag.

                    ER was such fun.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: ER and bloody clothes

                      Scripter,
                      I'm not sure if I can help but I'll add what I know about ER's. I worked in one of the largest in the country for several years. Your scene has a couple of problems if it's set in Harlem. The only hospital I've been in around NYC is Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn but most are big and busy. The one I worked at (Parkland ER in Dallas) had a triage center where a nurse directed traffic and sent patients to various departments of the ER, yes there were over fifty nurses working in the ER alone and a lot more residents. Residents and interns staff teaching hospitals.

                      But this scene doesn't work for me because if your protag found his bloody friend all cut up he'd call 911, right? And fire rescue gets there first, they'd see it's a stabbing, call the police. They'd stablilize the patient, and take only the patient in the ambulance. This "come on along" you see in movies has never happened in my experience. So the guy has to find a ride to the hospital, right? Call a cab I guess, most don't have cars, or the entire family has one car. But the biggest question is why would the cops let him leave? He's the prime suspect, they'd want to question him. And cops would be there before the ambulance guys left most likely.

                      So he wouldn't get to the scene before family's notified, he'd be detained by the cops, probably at the scene. It would be hours later he'd get to the ER to check on his friend. The cops could call in for him but he wouldn't be let go that soon.

                      To answer your question, in large ER's there is one waiting room and a security guard with a gun who will not let you past the "double doors" without someone from the back coming to get you. I worked triage and had a gun pulled on me once. The guy didn't get past security. No way would this scene take place back in the ER. The waiting room, maybe, but why wouldn't your protag have the cabbie take him home, get a quick shower, and then get to the ER? Only in car accidents where the friends were actual victims did we see a lot of bloody clothes.

                      If someone comes in with bloody clothes they get cut off if they can't take them off and go in bags.

                      You could do the scene where he's so distraught he goes straight to the ER but the family would still beat him to it there. And really so would the gang members because they wouldn't be detained at the scene. So unless he drives the guy in himself, not likely in Harlem, the timing is a problem.

                      If somebody comes back with bloody clothes, they're bagged. Considered contaminated waste. I once took off a homeless guy's shoe and found a dead mouse in the shoe. Anybody with no clothes or cut up clothes would probably get one or two of those disposable gowns, with their clothes in a bag.

                      ER was such fun.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: ER and bloody clothes

                        Excellent points MerryMary! Thank you.
                        There is always more to these things then what's on the surface.

                        I've got a lot of rethinking to do on this scene.
                        Are you going to write "Trust me" in the query?"
                        by BellaBella

                        Comment

                        Working...
                        X