Author Question: Emergency Care of the Suicidal Patient

March 14, 2019March 11, 2019 / Jordyn Redwood / 2 Comments

Riannon Asks:

I’d really appreciate your help in answering some questions. I’ve Googled as much as possible, and I just can’t seem to find answers for some things.

At one point in a play I’m writing, a character attempts suicide. His goal is not actually to die, but he does go through the process. What happens is that he’s very drunk and it’s a combination of probably alcohol poisoning and a lot of pills, something relatively accessible lying around the house, but potentially lethal in a high dose and then he calls 911 right afterwards.

So my questions are:
1. Would he be allowed to have visitors the next day? Essential for plot reasons.
2. Would visitors have to be family members or something or would friends/acquaintances be able to fudge their way in?
3. Before someone visits a patient, is the patient told that they’re coming and who they are? (I have very little knowledge of how hospitals work.)
4. How screwed up would he be physically?
5. Would he have to be committed to psych, and if so, when?
6. What could he have overdosed on?

Jordyn Says:

Hi Riannon!

Thanks so much for sending me your questions.

1. Would he be allowed visitors the next day? Depends on where he is at in the process. I’ll give you the process a patient goes through at our hospital, but you might need to adapt it if your play is located in a specific town, state, etc.

When a patient comes in with a suicide attempt, they are placed on 1:1 observation. The patient must be “medically cleared” before they can participate in a mental health evaluation. What that means is that they are no longer in danger medically from what they ingested AND that they are clear mentally to participate in the process. For instance, our patients would have to be below the legal limit for alcohol in order to participate. During the time of medical clearance and during the mental health evaluation (as for pediatrics parents are involved in the process) the patient is allowed to have visitors. A limited number. We try to keep it to two at a time and generally only immediate family.

If the patient is deemed to be a danger to themselves and does not voluntarily consent to treatment, then they are placed on an M1-Hold. This will have different names in different areas, but it is a legal document where the patient is involuntarily committed to a mental health institution for stabilization for about three days. Most mental health facilities will strictly limit visitors and may not let anyone visit during the initial 24-48 hours. Depends on the facility.

2. Could family/friends fudge their way in? I think I’ve mostly answered this above. If the patient is at a mental health hospital probably not without inside help. These are generally locked facilities that will keep a close eye on who is coming and going.

3. Is the patient notified of visitors? I can give you the ER answer and that is it depends. If the patient is unconscious then probably not. If the patient is conscious then we do want to inform the patient of who is there, but we would likely keep it to immediate family. We don’t want to inflame an already volatile situation so if the patient would become harmful to themselves or others then visitors are restricted. Pediatric patients will sometimes try and not have their parents visit, but parents are part of the process, so we encourage them to be at the bedside as long as the patient can be safe.

4. How screwed up would he be physically? Depends on a lot of factors. What he took. How much he took. And how long before he sought medical care.

5. Would he be committed to psych? If so, when? Yes, in this instance, he would be committed involuntarily if he did not agree to a voluntary admission. This would happen once he’s medically stable and after his mental health evaluation. Sometimes, patients may not be medically cleared for 12-24 hours (sometimes longer depending on the drug’s half life). Then we have to wait for an available mental health counselor which can take an additional 3-6 hours. Then waiting for placement could be another 3-24 hours. It can be a very lengthy process. Mental health beds are not that easy to find at times. Patients are held in the ER until they have a bed placement. It is also a requirement of our hospital that patients be transported by ambulance to their mental health facility and generally family members are not allowed to ride in the ambulance with them. This is a safety concern for the EMS crew.

6. What could he have overdosed on? This is really up to you as the author. Any drug can be toxic given in enough quantities and alcohol ingestion on top of that can make things much worse. Some of the more common medications most people have at home that can become easily toxic, in my opinion, would be acetaminophen (Tylenol), aspirin, and diphenhydramine (Benadryl).

Hope this helps and best of luck with your novel!

The Movie Unsane is Insane in its Portrayal of Mental Health Care

November 29, 2018November 18, 2018 / Jordyn Redwood / Leave a comment

A recently released movie, Unsane, starring the remarkable Claire Foy, highlights the plight of Sawyer Valentini after she’s been involuntarily committed into an inpatient psychiatric hospital.

This post does contain spoilers to the movie so stop reading if you don’t want to know more about the film.

The crux of the story is that Sawyer believes her stalker has made his way into the psychiatric unit where she is a patient— whether or not that is the case is the mystery.

Unfortunately, the way that psychiatric care is highlighted in the film is disturbing at best. At worst, I hope it doesn’t deter anyone from seeking mental health treatment if they need it.

Problem One: Not disclosing to a patient why she’s being admitted. The genesis of Sawyer’s admission into the psychiatric unit stems from a visit with a counselor where she discloses at times she thinks about hurting herself. She’s left unattended (a no-no if you think someone is suicidal) and the next scene is a nurse escorting her into an intake room. The nurse never fully explains to the patient the reason for the admission and leaving it out doesn’t really increase the drama of the scene— it just makes the nurse look mean and uncaring. Simply, a nurse could say, “Your mental health provider has placed you on an involuntary hold because she’s concerned you’re going to hurt yourself. ” Then the heroine can argue with her about why she feels the admission is unnecessary.

Problem Two: Having the patient undress but allowing her to keep her bra. A bra is considered a ligature risk and patients can’t have anything on their person that they might use to hurt themselves. Hair ties, piercings, and other jewelry are all removed.

Problem Three: Drug injection sites. Emergency drugs for agitated patients are usually given IM (intramuscular) and not IV (intravenous) to the neck or arm. Can you imagine trying to start an IV on an agitated patient? It’s much easier to land a needle in a large muscle group then to try and finesse a tiny IV catheter into a moving target.

Problem Four: Leaving a patient alone in restraints all night. There are very specific regulations around restraints and significant documentation that goes along with it. Patients in restraints are continuously observed by a staff member and circulation to their extremities is checked often. Also, the patient must be offered bathroom breaks at a minimum of every two hours and you can’t deny them food as punishment. The goal is always to get patients out of restraints as soon as they can be safe— and that doesn’t always imply that they are calm.

Problem Five: A mixed gender open unit. Need I say more?

Problem Six: That psychiatric care is an insurance scheme for money and that patients are intentionally kept until their insurance money is exhausted. This is a large crux of the movie to the point that one of the patients is actually an undercover police officer trying to uncover the scam. This is the most disappointing aspect of the film. There are so few mental health beds around the country right now that it is not difficult to fill them. Here’s a news article here, here, here, and here— which all posted within one week. Trust me, mental health facilities can keep their beds full without perpetuating insurance schemes.

Overall, an interesting movie, but portraying the current state of mental health care in this country would have only increased the tension and drama for this film.

Reverie: Not so Medically Dreamy

June 28, 2018June 28, 2018 / Jordyn Redwood / Leave a comment

NBC has launched a new summer show titled Reverie. In it, Mara (ex traumatized cop, maybe psychologist) is recruited by a company specializing in making-your-dreams-come-true via a hyper advanced virtual reality program. The participants receive an implant that allows them to interact virtually with a program partly of their design.

Problem becomes, some of the clients don’t want to leave. Hence, our heroine, Mara, is recruited to go in after them and pull them back to reality.

In the first episode, it’s noted that the client has been in his dream world for two weeks and it’s commented by the staff that he’s essentially comatose. The man is lying on a bed connected to an ECG monitor and some oxygen via nasal cannula as pictured below. They give the man two days left to live providing a time pressure for the heroine.

However, medically, this man would have already been dead because they are not providing for either hydration or nutrition. This could be solved simply medically by inserting a feeding tube via his nose and providing free water interspersed with bolus liquid feeds. After all, thousands of people live in comatose states for years if their basic medical needs are met such as oxygen (if needed) and nutrition.

The heroine, Mara, is psychologically damaged. She’s had a significant personal trauma she hasn’t quite worked through. There is also a concern expressed by the designers of the program that something might not be quite right with it. When Mara enters the virtual reality program for the first time to retrieve a voluntarily trapped client they run an EEG on her which measures brain waves.

After she successfully retrieves the client, there is a conversation between the designer and lead dream architect that something is wrong with Mara’s EEG— something that indicates she could have a mental illness.

An EEG cannot diagnose a mental health disorder. Its use might be to determine if a patient has a medical cause that may be masked by some psychiatric like complaints such as a seizure disorder or sleep disturbance.

In episode 2, the producers must have gotten some feedback that they needed some actual medical equipment if they were concerned about these clients suffering medical complications. This time, a woman’s heart is going into erratic rhythms, specifically V-tach, because of the stress she’s under in her dream scape. But the medical equipment must make sense. What’s pictured in the photo to the right is what we call a rapid fluid infuser. It delivers IV fluids very quickly. Typically, it would be used in a trauma patient or one who is suffering from overwhelming sepsis where rapid delivery of IV fluids can be lifesaving. It is not appropriate for this patient who is suffering from a heart arrhythmia— much better to park a defibrillator at her bedside.