Hospital emergency rooms are built for just that: emergencies. Broken bones, heart attacks, motor vehicle accidents and similar incidents that require urgent assistance from doctors and nurses. These experts are trained to handle life-threatening cases under intense pressure. For them, and their patients, every minute counts.
But every now and again, someone comes racing in and causes a collective facepalm with their 'medical emergency.' From the guy who came in because he "wanted to watch the Super Bowl and his roommates did not," to the person who had severe stomach pains but actually just needed to let out a good, long fart, people have been sharing some of the dumbest cases ever to rock up in the ER.
Bored Panda has put together the most bizarre and ridiculous ones sourced from across the internet. Some are funny, others are painful, and many might leave you thinking that sometimes, the real emergency is a serious lapse in judgment and brains that failed to function.
#1
Sneezed, threw out my back, fell on the cat (broke his paw), got bit by the cat, and ended up with an infection from the bite and on IV antibiotics for a week.
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42points
#2
The custodian thought I was a ghost in a dark lab, hit me with a bucket and drove me to the ER. We’re engaged.
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41points
#3
I got bit on the neck by a bat in the dollar general parking lot trying to get to my car. It was close to Halloween and when I got to the first hospital they thought I was joking… the doc refused to give me rabies shots bc they said I could have an allergic reaction… I left and went to another hospital bc I’d rather have an allergic reaction than ☠️ from rabies, they laughed too until I showed them the bite… anyway, still here and no rabies.
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36points
#4
My son (barley 3 at the time)told me his head hurt, and kept saying it for the entire day. So I thought a 3 year old with a headache is NOT normal. So I took him to Urgent care, ran every test they could and looked at him and asked “why does your head hurt?” and he said “mommy says her head hurts and she gets a snack”….. he hears me say my head hurts (i have chronic migraines) and then I have to take my medication for them with a snack.
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36points
#5
Fell out of the ambulance while bringing someone in … I’m the EMT.
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34points
#6
Took my granddaughter for an eyeball up her nose. She kept fooling with her nose I finally shined a flashlight up to see if something was wrong. An eye was looking back at me. She must have had a craft with googily eyes and stuck one up her nose. The doctor thought it was quite funny.
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31points
#7
Ooh, this one is my favorite.
Mom shows up to triage with her 17 year old son. Complaints of being blue.
I think they'd maybe even been to their primary and they sent them in for a work up, but maybe it was just a phone call, I can't recall.
Anyway, they come into my triage room and the kid is obviously a light blue all over. Not cyanotic blue, but.. light blue.
Vitals are fine, no pain or other issues. Mom is freaked out about heart issues.
I'm curious but not really concerned. So, I take out an alcohol pad and wipe his hand. It comes up blue. I show the mother and the kid, then ask if he's got any new jeans, clothes, sheets, etc. The kid says yes, he just got blue sheets and didn't wash them before he slept on them.
Clearly, that's the issue. I figure they'd be seeing themselves out, but nope - they still want to see the doctor. Oof. (And this is in the US where that's not free).
Doc agreed with me, for the record.
Mom shows up to triage with her 17 year old son. Complaints of being blue.
I think they'd maybe even been to their primary and they sent them in for a work up, but maybe it was just a phone call, I can't recall.
Anyway, they come into my triage room and the kid is obviously a light blue all over. Not cyanotic blue, but.. light blue.
Vitals are fine, no pain or other issues. Mom is freaked out about heart issues.
I'm curious but not really concerned. So, I take out an alcohol pad and wipe his hand. It comes up blue. I show the mother and the kid, then ask if he's got any new jeans, clothes, sheets, etc. The kid says yes, he just got blue sheets and didn't wash them before he slept on them.
Clearly, that's the issue. I figure they'd be seeing themselves out, but nope - they still want to see the doctor. Oof. (And this is in the US where that's not free).
Doc agreed with me, for the record.
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29points
#8
Drank water at a house party because I had to drive home from college early the next day. went to the ER feeling like I was having a heart attack. turns out I had drank enough water to severely lower my potassium levels. The Dr was sure to point out how funny it was that I was being responsible and ended up in the ER.
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27points
#11
-22year old male with a sore throat x1 hour.
-varied ages for pregnancy test- including “i just know I’m pregnant but my home test was negative.”
-my 14 year old daughter has been bleeding from her privates for 3 days, she had the same problem last month for 5 days but no one took us seriously (this was mom, not like a single dad).
-varied ages for pregnancy test- including “i just know I’m pregnant but my home test was negative.”
-my 14 year old daughter has been bleeding from her privates for 3 days, she had the same problem last month for 5 days but no one took us seriously (this was mom, not like a single dad).
25points
#12
I read a story here a while back that fits.
A young couple (like late teens, early 20s) came to the ER. She was fine. His complaint? Abdominal pain. After a full workup on an otherwise totally healthy young man, they determined…he was hungry.
His ‘abdominal pains’ were hunger pangs. He had never experienced them before and was scared something was really wrong.
A young couple (like late teens, early 20s) came to the ER. She was fine. His complaint? Abdominal pain. After a full workup on an otherwise totally healthy young man, they determined…he was hungry.
His ‘abdominal pains’ were hunger pangs. He had never experienced them before and was scared something was really wrong.
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23points
#13
I papercut my eyeball with a Manila folder while answering a phone at my office job.
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22points
#14
I fell in my cousins grave site, in the vault. The grave diggers left a small area not covered all the way and I stepped in that very spot and the ground sucked me up into the grave, it was Friday the 13th.
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22points
#15
Never been sunburnt in my life. Went hiking in high elevation all day. The sky was cloudy so I thought nothing of it. On my drive home, my neck was stinging. Really bad. It was all red. I thought I had been bitten by something. Instead of going home, I went to the ER and after a few hours I was promptly told it was sunburn.
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22points
#16
My daughter was 3 at the time and she kept saying I’m dizzy right now and turns out she was trying to say I’m busy right now, that whole place probably thought I was insane.
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22points
#17
A woman brought her seven-year-old child in at 10pm for a mosquito bite. No infections, no complications, just a <1 cm mosquito bite.
They sat four hours in the waiting room. When they finally got seen, the doc took one look and said, "That's a mosquito bite."
The mom said, "That's what I thought."
They sat four hours in the waiting room. When they finally got seen, the doc took one look and said, "That's a mosquito bite."
The mom said, "That's what I thought."
21points
#18
I was in so much stomach pain and they did an ultrasound and it turns out I just needed to fart.
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21points
#19
I was 19. My head hurt soo bad I was convinced I was having a stroke. I was dizzy with waves of excruciating pain plus vomiting. I refused to leave until they CT scanned my brain. Turns out, it was my first and only ever migraine. They gave me some shots a cpl tablets of something. I slept for 12 hrs and have never had another lol.
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20points
#20
When i was little at the pumpkin patch i tripped while carrying a mini pumpkin and the whole stem went up my nose.
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20points