ER situations

[Brittyn]

I've kind of wondered about this recently.  For people who pack, what happens if you're in an emergency situation and have to go to the ER?   Hah, I would think things would be a little awkward.  Hopefully it never happens.

It's probably awkward anyway if they take you there after a few years on T and then find that nothing's there. 

I guess it's a lose-lose type of situation.   

[no_id]

Honestly, I don't think the hospital staff would care...

[Autumn]

Well, if you have insurance, everything has to be filed under your legal gender and name. Plus any specific concerns that your medications might have.

The nurses will repeatedly wtf at your chart before doing anything.

[mr_marc]

Nurses..doctors.. they've probably seen some stranger things than what ever we pack with lol.
They could probably write a book about it.
So personally i don't think they'd be bothered, probably even seen it before.

Like alot of things, this stuff is far more common than we think.

[Jamie-o]

That happened to a guy I know.  Actually, I don't  know if he was packing at the time, but he was unconcious, and the medics were going to have to catheterize him.  Fortunately, he was carrying a card that listed a good friend, who was also FtM and who was involved in training medical personnel in how to deal with trans patients, as his emergency contact. 

As soon as this friend heard the word "catheter" he called out, "Stop!"  He  then quickly explained that, although they were expecting to catheterize the patient like a male,  they would need to do it like a female.  "O.K.  Now, GO!"

The story is kind of funny the way he tells it, but I'm sure  it was stressful at the time.  It also goes to  show how important it is to have up-to-date emergency contacts on you at all times,  and that you should carefully consider whom you choose as your contact.

[zombiesarepeaceful]

I recently ended up in the ER for a kidney infection.  The doctors were being disrespectful and making me angry, so when they took me to CT...I left my packer in. I'm not sure if it can be seen on a CT. But I'm almost sure that when the CT lady walked me back to the ER, she looked freaked out. Lmao.

[Arch]

Well, if you have insurance, everything has to be filed under your legal gender and name. Plus any specific concerns that your medications might have.

I'm not sure I get your drift. Do you mean that the guys who pack are not legally male and will show up as female on their insurance? If so, some of my friends are legally male across the board but haven't had bottom surgery...in fact, I know or have met a few dozen FTMs in my city, but I only know a couple of guys who have had any kind of bottom surgery. Can you clarify what you're getting at?

The nurses will repeatedly wtf at your chart before doing anything.

But if it's an ER situation, will the ER staff even have access to my chart? I guess they can call up my insurance info, but my actual chart? Is all of that computerized these days? 'Cause if it is, think of the potential for abuse...yikes.

Anyway, medical staff are not immune to bigotry. If you're pre-T, look androgynous, and pack, they might or might not bat an eyelash. If you present convincingly as male and turn out to have an innie and a pantstuffer, I think there's more room for prejudice and lousy treatment. But seriously, it all depends on the staff. (FWIW, I think pre-SRS women get more crap than pre-SRS men in the ER, but that's just an impression I get.)

[kyril]

The medical professionals I know are professional. Even the volunteer EMTs I worked with in the fire department. They might make some crude remarks after delivering you safely to the hospital (crudeness being a coping mechanism for people in professions that deal with trauma - nothing could beat the things said about decapitated motorcycle accident victims, except perhaps for the jokes my friends in the military made about IED victims), but they would deliver you safely first, because they have respect for human life.

The nurses I knew at the hospital were the same way, except a bit more outwardly sensitive, the profession having a more feminine-gendered culture. But they're accustomed to helping patients who have...um...various objects lodged in their rectums. They've treated allergic reactions and chemical burns to the penis. They've seen attempted self-castration much more often than we think. Something harmlessly stuffed down your pants? That may be one of the most mundane things they've seen that day.

The only thing you'd really have to worry about, and the packer might actually help draw attention to this, is that if they have to interact with your genitals they need to do it in the right way. They could injure you, for instance, if you've had enough growth on T to be convincing (perhaps they might assume you're intersex) and they decide to try and cath you like a male.

[Adio]

This is completely relevant to what has happened to me recently.

I was in a car accident on Monday and had to be taken to the ER by ambulance.  The police and emergency response team (for whatever reason, be it the fact I was in hysterics or my ID) called me she and ma'am repeatedly.  I didn't attempt to correct them because of how out of it I was and I knew I just needed help.

When they boarded and collared me (basically, put me in the ambulance), they came into contact with my packer.  I heard them laugh and say "well that's a surprise" but they continued without any other comments.  After the door shut and it was just me and the other guy I was able to tell him that I was transgender and identified as male.  I was unable to see his nonverbal reaction, but all he asked was if I had surgery yet and whether or not I was legally male because that's what he'd have to go by in the report.

When we got to the ER, he failed to mention that I was transgender in my pertinent medical history so I told the nurse that was attending to me.  She was very understanding and even asked how I was handling my transition.  After that, I got a mix of male and female pronouns depending on who spoke to me.  My name, on paper, is a very recognizably female name but is pronounced in a way so that it is, at the very least, unisex.  Not once did it get pronounced the female way.

The second time I was in the ER (the very next day), I was called by the female pronunciation several times and addressed with female pronouns throughout the time I was there.  The attending doctor was very abrupt and disrespectful.  I guess it all depends on who you get that day.

I am also in the very deep south United States if that makes a difference.  Some areas are more tolerant and aware than others.  I believe that really impacts how gender variant individuals are treated, especially in emergency situations.

[zombiesarepeaceful]

Yeah, when I"m in the ER, when they ask the question, "When was your last...." I answer with "don't know, don't care, cause I'm trans." I know that doesn't help me out much but I really don't keep track and don't care. I guess it's a passive way of saying, "I hate my body".

I usually get she'd by doctors. For what reason, I don't know. I don't look very female. I have sideburns. I have a male voice. And I bind all the time. And pack. I'd hate to see a boy with a name like mine, legally.

[Adio]

Yeah, when I"m in the ER, when they ask the question, "When was your last...." I answer with "don't know, don't care, cause I'm trans." I know that doesn't help me out much but I really don't keep track and don't care. I guess it's a passive way of saying, "I hate my body".

I usually get she'd by doctors. For what reason, I don't know. I don't look very female. I have sideburns. I have a male voice. And I bind all the time. And pack. I'd hate to see a boy with a name like mine, legally.

When the nurse asked me that she asked "do you still have periods?" and I was able to tell her no.  Her follow up question was "Is that because of the testosterone?"  I said yes.  And that was that.  The second ER trip, I was never asked even with all the she's.  I believe the triage nurse saw me as male and therefore didn't ask (I was able to correct her about my name pronunciation).

I don't know why guys like us get she'd either.  From your pictures, I'd say you pass, but that's just pictures.  That's why I don't bother with those "do I pass?" threads.  I don't know what your given name is, but mine is a somewhat common male name in parts of Europe and a very common female name in the US.  So it works for me as I do pass as male about 90% of the time.

[zombiesarepeaceful]

Mine's blatently female. Unless you're from another country. I look different now than in my icon. I have facial hair now, basically. I pass generally all the time. I'm stealth when I don't need to disclose things.

[tekla]

ER personal care about one thing and one thing only - stabilizing your vitals so that you can get the treatment you need to save your live.  If you lie in such a situation, perhaps life is not the best choice for you.  But as for the rest, they don't care, they more than likely don't even know if you lived or died after you went from the ER to wherever they needed to send you - surgery, burn unit, ICU, whatever.  Their job was over, and you future status was not relevant to them, they had other people to deal with who where right in line behind you.  But passing when your clothes are all cut off is problematic at best.

[Adio]

ER personal care about one thing and one thing only - stabilizing your vitals so that you can get the treatment you need to save your live.  If you lie in such a situation, perhaps life is not the best choice for you.  But as for the rest, they don't care, they more than likely don't even know if you lived or died after you went from the ER to wherever they needed to send you - surgery, burn unit, ICU, whatever.  Their job was over, and you future status was not relevant to them, they had other people to deal with who where right in line behind you.  But passing when your clothes are all cut off is problematic at best.

Can you describe, in your opinion, what would be a lie a transgender individual would tell in an ER situation?  As well as what you mean by your last statement "But passing when your clothes are all cut off is problematic at best."  What would be problematic?

[sneakersjay]

On a similar note, when I went in for top surgery with Brownstein, you are allowed to keep your underwear and packer.  They're used to it.

When I left I was so groggy, barely able to get dressed by myself.  When I got home, my tighty whities were  missing and in their place those stretchy gauze pseudo-undie thingies.... and my packer, perfectly placed that I didn't even notice it had been touched.  LMAO.

Apparently they got ruined (with blood or something) and they threw them out.  I can only imagine what they were thinking, but they had probably seen it a gazillion times with Brownstein's patients.


Jay

[Lachlann]

Can you describe, in your opinion, what would be a lie a transgender individual would tell in an ER situation?  As well as what you mean by your last statement "But passing when your clothes are all cut off is problematic at best."  What would be problematic?

I'd assume in that you might appear male when your anatomy isn't exactly biologically male. That could be problematic.

[tekla]

Unless you are not covered by health care and are using the emergency room as some sort of general doctor (which is problematic in a different way) just BEING in an ER makes life itself problematic.  And the standard way most people come in there - bloody, bleeding, dying... makes it pretty much pro-forma that all the clothing - get that?  ALL the clothing - is just cut off and tossed out.

[Adio]

@Tekla:  I understand how the ER works as I've been there several times, and I do clinicals as a nursing student at hospitals.  Still didn't answer the questions I asked though.  But thanks anyway.

Also, thanks for weighing in, Lachlann.  I understand that transgender individuals often appears to be one gender/sex but are often genetically another.  Does that mean if we are in an accident and for whatever reason are unable to alert health care personnel, we should all wear medical alert bracelets or have our trans status printed somewhere like our DL?

Honestly, I don't think so.  I think it is up to health care to catch up to us, not for us to catch up to or accommodate for them.  Trans* awareness in emergency situations is especially important for reasons already stated (namely the need to insert a foley). 

[Tippe]

Trans* awareness in emergency situations is especially important for reasons already stated (namely the need to insert a foley).

I don't get that. The diameter is usually the same Ch14 in males and females according to my information. Why should it be a problem that the tubing is longer if it is only inserted just past the bladder entry? Inconvenient, maybe embarassing, yes. Dangerous, no?

--
Tippe

[Adio]

I don't get that. The diameter is usually the same Ch14 in males and females according to my information. Why should it be a problem that the tubing is longer if it is only inserted just past the bladder entry? Inconvenient, maybe embarassing, yes. Dangerous, no?

--
Tippe

No, it shouldn't be dangerous.  That doesn't mean health care professionals should be ignorant about trans* issues and anatomy though. 

Like kyril said, they might think that an ftm who has been on T for a while is intersex and attempt to insert the catheter through a hole that doesn't exist.  I'm not saying that the nurse would attempt to stick the foley in without finding a hole first, but they might poke around or waste time looking for something in a place where they won't find it.