Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT

WCDT 2887-2891 (2-6 February 2015)

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Wharrrrrrgarbl:

--- Quote from: Y on 01 Feb 2015, 22:47 ---
--- Quote from: Wharrrrrrgarbl on 01 Feb 2015, 19:47 ---Looks like Faye lied to her doctors about what's going on, because if she responded truthfully to a basic history regarding alcohol use, she would be getting admitted a psych ward.

--- End quote ---
I think if getting stuck into a psych ward is one of the usual outcomes when visiting the ER after alcohol abuse, a lot of people would be afraid to seek help.

I would have thought she emptied her entire supply of booze by now.

--- End quote ---

So, there are two possible scenarios here: either what Marten saw in strip 2881 was vomit made of booze and pills, or it was vomit made of booze and food. Let's take each in turn.

Booze and pills: given history of suicide attempt and mental health issues, it's malpractice not to consult psychiatry in the ED. Given history of suicide attempt and unclear history of intentional or accidental overdose, it's malpractice for the psychiatrist not to recommend a medical hold followed by inpatient psychiatric care. So assuming no malpractice, Marten didn't mention seeing pills (maybe he was too freaked out to give a good history), and Faye minimized what happened sufficiently for the ED doc to make medical decisions without thinking about a pill ingestion. Still bad form not to get a toxicology screen on somebody found down and brought to the ED, though it looks like Marten did it by private car instead of calling EMS, so more understandable. So the medical decision making probably played out more like scenario 2:

Booze, no pills: Faye has been drinking pints of hard liquor daily for what looks like a week, minimum. She drinks more than intended, she drinks when getting up in the morning, she drinks enough to get fired, she drinks enough to get brought to the emergency department. At minimum she meets criteria for a moderate alcohol use disorder, which should make the ED doc suspicious that whatever amount of drinking she endorsed to him or her is less than what she is actually drinking. Alcohol withdrawal can kill you (~5% in-hospital mortality, up to 50% at a year if untreated in some studies), and is absolutely an indication for admission. The only way she gets out of the ED without medical admission for alcohol withdrawal is if she states that she wants to continue drinking (does not appear congruent with her attitude in 2885), at which point she definitely meets criteria for a severe alcohol use disorder.

Marten may not have known about her getting fired, etc., and may not have been able to provide that history. Assuming no malpractice, Faye didn't tell her docs when they asked about it. If she had been admitted to the hospital, the history taken for the admission should include a psychiatric history, which should dig up the history of suicide attempt and big pile of recent psychosocial stressors. Now we're back in "was this a suicide attempt?" territory, and psychiatry should be consulted, though depending on the answers they get from her friends regarding safety/support, she might get linked with outpatient resources. There are some docs I know who might not consult psychiatry if she stated that she was not interested in talking to a psychiatrist, though.

So, if she's getting discharged from the emergency department, she did it through a combination of lying/evading questions that should come up in a basic history. If she got discharged from an inpatient hospital bed (which should be 3-7 days after admission, depending on what happens on the withdrawal front), and there were no pills, I can maybe see a way she gets discharged home instead of to the psych ward.

HOWEVER, I'm pretty sure I see a bunch of pills in the vomit in 2881, so I don't think Faye told them what actually happened, and Marten somehow forgot to mention the pills. If Faye has had been to a psychiatric hospital before (esp. involuntarily, as happens after some suicide attempts), then she may have decided to minimize her history in order to avoid a second stay. This is pretty common behavior.

swapna:
Psych ward??

From  my experiences from bringing people to the hospital with alcohol poisoning: The doctors treat them, tell them 'well you overdid it there, lucky somebody called us', and then send them home. Especially if they're there the first time. They'll ask questions related to your well-being or search for indicators that you might need additional treatment, but that's all they do.

Pills in the vomit  - I don't think that there were any. If there were, the doctors do know about it. Why? It would have been in the EMT report if the EMTs saw them, and if Marten does have a tiny bit of common sense, he would have told them, since drugs do have contraindications with other drugs, and a sedative that's safe with alcohol might not be with other drugs.

NilsO:

--- Quote from: swapna on 02 Feb 2015, 04:55 ---Pills in the vomit  - I don't think that there were any. If there were, the doctors do know about it. Why? It would have been in the EMT report if the EMTs saw them, and if Marten does have a tiny bit of common sense, he would have told them, since drugs do have contraindications with other drugs, and a sedative that's safe with alcohol might not be with other drugs.

--- End quote ---
Also, we have no indications Faye has ever used pills. Alcohol has always been her preferred medication. If she tried to commit suicide, it could be questioned, but we have no indication she did try this. The vomit just look like the ordinary stinky soup with carrot bits. I would not suggest there are pills involved unless we had clear indications of this. Drawing vomit is probably difficult work, I do not think we should overanalyze this.

As for the couch - I guess the cushions already has been flipped too many times. Unless Hanners is able to clean up, I guess a new couch is a priority in the immediate future.

Neko_Ali:
In regards to the recurring theme of 'Faye should work at the Secret Bakery'. No, I don't see it. They have a business relationship where they meet to trade goods on a daily basis. Even if they were looking to hire someone (which would be an amazing coincidence) it would mean having to keep dealing with Dora at work. Something I don't think Faye would want right now. Not to mention that Jim would want to know why she's not working for her friend anymore... Maybe she'll wind up working at another coffee shop in town. There are a ton, apparently. But I doubt it will be the Secret Bakery.

Carl-E:
LAN Perk? 

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