I knew you had my back

[StevieJD]

Way back when.........

I was working as a hospital orderly. Young, wet behind the ears, working my way through college.

One night in the ER there is a woman/wife/girlfriend that has been used as punching bag by her man/husband/boyfriend. She is bad enough shape that she is being admitted for 24-48 observation and maybe surgery.

Jerkwad of man/husband/boyfriend is making a stink in the waiting room. Wants to see his punching bag. Most likely to finish what he had started or to tell her that he was sorry and wouldn't do it again unless he got really pissed and she deserved it.

Anyhow, ER Doc goes out to the waiting room to tell Jerkwad to take it home for the night because he ain't getting to visit is punching bag any time soon.

Jerkwad is getting all bent out of shape. Jerkwad is a big dude. BIG Dude. Easily 6'5", 250 and looks like he has never sat behind a desk a day in his life. ER Doc is 5'9" and 175 dripping wet. Would not be much of a contest.

Jerkwad gets up close to ER Doc. There are a lot of mumbled voices and then I hear ER Doc say "Go ahead".

At that moment all Hell broke loose......

There is a little man of an ER nurse, all 5'2" 110 lbs of himself that shoves me out of the way.

The clerk has pressed the call button for the Xray tech to come join the fray. It is shift change time in the Xray dept and both techs come flying through the side door. These two guys are as big as Jerkwad.

The pair of hospital security guards just so happen to stroll up the corridor on the side wing and are heading to join the fray that is about to happen.

The local PD had an officer station in the ER for professional security and to deter drug seekers (and worse). Officer Chuck is taking off his gun belt and waving his nightstick.

And the Ortho tech comes running from out back and brushes me aside. Another big dude.


Ole Jerkwad takes a look around real slow.

ER Doc again tells Jerkwad "go ahead"

Jerkwad looks around again and says something to the effect of "I am out numbered" and Jerkwad starts to stroll out of the ER heading to the exit.

As Jerkwad turns the corner at the exit he lets loose a string of profanities.

And who is walking through the exit?

Two more PD.

Officer Chuck yells "Do him", and the two fresh arrive PD drop Jerkwad to the ground and slap the cuffs on him. Congrats, you have been arrested for public profanity.


Later one of the nurse is asking ER Doc about Jerkwad's conversation. Jerkwad had made a threat of shoving ER Doc's head up his arse or something to that effect. That is the comment that prompted ER Doc to say "Go ahead".

Nurse told Doc he was stupid, and Doc said

"I knew you had my back".

[wagegoth]

He could probably get an assault charge out of the remark. Get the guy off the streets for a couple of days.

Asshole.

[Triscuitty]

Oyy. I hope someone in jail used HIM as a punching bag.

[Trayol]

It must be nice to know that people would come out of the woodwork to help you.

[marasbaras]

If you've ever been in a hospital and heard a call for a rather unusual name to come to a place ... often, that's actually a code call for "designated shit-kickers please report".

[LambChop]

That. Was. Awesome! I love it when dickwad assholes get their just desserts, especially if he just put his wife/girlfriend in the hospital. Good on ya!

[donruss]

Only thing that would have made it better was if all parties involved had told this douchenozzle that they would all be paying him a private visit if his wife/girlfriend/victim ever showed back up at that hospital for the same thing. Some people deserve to be taken out of this world, they really do.

[iviles]

Even if he didnt have all that back up it was great to let that jerk know that not everyone is scared of him. I really hope she got help though and didnt go back to him.

[allniter]

I can't believe this guy wasn't arrested for domestic battery. This is the reason I carry a gun, for drugged up psychos who might think they can take anyone down with their fists. Hope she presses charges to the fullest extent.

[crazylegs]

Hope she presses charges to the fullest extent.

Have a quick search for the thread titled Human Pinata by Jester, then you'll probably realise she more than likely won't.

It takes more than 30 seperate abuse incidents (not blows, but full seperate incidents) on average before the Police are contacted for the first time.

[Andara Bledin]

I can't believe this guy wasn't arrested for domestic battery. This is the reason I carry a gun, for drugged up psychos who might think they can take anyone down with their fists. Hope she presses charges to the fullest extent.

Alas, in the vast majority of cases, charges are never pressed. Many times, the victim has extensive self-esteem issues, which is most of the reason the attacker chose to be with them in the first place. It's that whole 'cycle of abuse' thing that's incredibly hard for people to break out of, especially since there are so many on both sides who help perpetuate the problems.

And sometimes, when someone other than the victim is involved in charges, things get out of hand. When my brother was in jail for something his alleged best friend had left in his car (and then refused to help with lawyer fees regarding - although the now-ex best friend's mother actually put up her house as collateral for bail, and then hired a real lawyer who got all charges dropped), he had a cellmate who was in jail because his abusive girlfriend had been harrassing him while he was at her place, and when he tried to leave, she stood in front of his car door. So, in order to leave, he grabbed her by the shoulders, picked her up, moved her aside, and left. A nosy neighbor called the cops on him on the sucky girlfriend's behalf. The girlfriend herself actively didn't want him in jail since she couldn't be abusive to him while he was there.

And in another case, my cousin got a visit from the police for the same sort of issue for slapping his girlfriend (her roommate called them). Of course, after he showed them the burn mark where she had put out her cigarette on his arm right beforehand, they just left. And, yes, he dumped her for that incident.

^-.-^

[XCashier]

Nurse told Doc he was stupid, and Doc said "I knew you had my back".

That took some serious guts on the Doctor's part. And an awful lot of faith. Sure, the ER personnel are trained in what to do in cases like this, but if one person freezes up or gets distracted, the whole thing could backfire.

Still, I'm glad the jerk got busted, and I hope the girlfriend pressed charges and put him in the slammer for a long time. I know the odds on that, but every so often, there is one woman who wakes up, smells the coffee and does what needs to be done, and I hope she is that woman.

[StevieJD]

Back in those days the abuse laws were poorly written and Docs/Nurses had few means to do anything unless the patient or family made a declaration.

There were things involving women or kids that we all suspected or "knew" were wrong, but we were powerless to do anything without proof. Today, just suspicion of abuse is grounds to be reported and some changes in the laws require reports just based upon suspicion. Thankgoodness for the changes. Sometimes where there is smoke there is fire and sometimes it is just smoke, but I would rather error on the side of a few false alarms.

Of course back then the woman/wife/girlfriend claimed she had walked into door several times resulting in facial, chest and abdominal injuries. Yea, right.

By the way, on more than one occassion the man/husband/boyfriend of an abuse victim would be wheeled into the hospital a week or so later, the guy would be in near coma or have had the crap beat out of him. We would never knew who did it and was smart enough to not ask.

[StevieJD]

That took some serious guts on the Doctor's part. And an awful lot of faith. Sure, the ER personnel are trained in what to do in cases like this, but if one person freezes up or gets distracted, the whole thing could backfire.

The Doc was a scrapper. You could just tell that he had been in a fight or two and might have lost every time but was never going to back down.

I don't think we had a "policy" and I know we never got trained. It was just plain human nature to protect our own kind.

I saw other similar incidents, none more dramatic as that one. But there sure were a lot of rectal temperatures being taken on adults for no other reason than just to show who is actually in charge.

[daleduke17]

Wow that makes the night I requested "Security Assistance to the entrance" seem like nothing.

I think I shall post about it in a seperate thread.