Drug Abusers, Broken Glass and Blood Everywhere!

As some of you know, I work for a doctor in Davis County. On occasion we will have a patient or two flip out on us; therefore, requiring us to call 911 and wait until an officer comes to our rescue. Today was no exception.

It was like any other day, I left home at 6:30 am, arrived at work at 7 and sat at the front desk computer at 7:10. As soon as 7:30 neared I grabbed our "waiting room remotes", turned on the patient tv in the waiting room and then the tv monitor, which faces the hallway outside our office.

This television is not like most tv's that doctors have in their offices. This tv serves a specific purpose- to advertise the many procedures and services that our doctor provides. This tv hangs on its side in the window, which is next to our front door, so that people passing by are drawn to it and want to know more about our practice. There is protective, shatter-proof glass in the window that protects the tv screen, with at least five inches of open space between the monitor and the glass.

After turning on the tv's and settling back into my chair up front we had a few patients show up. One of which has always given me the heeby-geebies. I quickly got his copay and told him to have a seat.

At 8:15 our receptionist comes in and relieves me so that I can go to my office and get my work done. I collected all of my things when she came in and headed to my office. Once in the office I noticed that my office manager was printing up a dismissal letter for another one of our patients who had not been sticking to their pain management contract. This has seemed to be a normal thing lately because people get so addicted to the medications that they are on that they want more, therefore not sticking to what they are supposed to do. Since they can't get extra medications from doctors they turn to the streets for drugs.

My office manager always has the pleasure of letting patients know that they are being dismissed from the practice and will have to find a new provider. This is always a stressful thing for the rest of the office staff because some of our patients are tempermental and we would hate for the patient to flip and beat up our office manager-- it doesn't help that she is six months along in her pregnancy.

Today's dismissal was no exception to this. Lara talked to the patient, walked with him down the hall and watched him walk through the waiting room.

I had just started working on my things for the day when I heard a HUGE slamming noise and then glass shattering. I immediatly thought of my office manager and I rushed up front. Our receptionist looked wide eyed and said, "I think he broke our tv!"

I ran through the waiting room, ignoring the questionable looks from our patients and rushed through the door. My office manager and the patient whom she had just dismissed and whom I had the heeby-geebies from were walking toward the elevator. There was glass everywhere and a HUGE hole in the glass. The tv screen was ruined and had glass stuck in it.

I knew I couldn't leave our office manager alone with this guy so I stayed with her. The patient went to the elevator and tried to leave, but my office manager put her arms in the door to re-open them. The patient lifted his leg and said, "do you want me to kick you in the face?" My office manager said, "I am pregnant, do you want to got to jail?" The patient put his leg down and pushed my office manager out of his way with all of his body force all while saying, "Yeah i'll go to jail."

After realizing that he wasn't going to get away from the two of us the patient rushed toward the stairs. My office manager and I followed him down the stairs, past the pharmacy and into the parking lot in front of our office building. I had a feeling that I needed to call 911, even though our receptionist had already called them. I reached into my pocket, not even thinking that I would have my cell on me because I usually leave it on my desk, but there it was.

I immediatly dialed 911. I was able to give all of the details to dispatch as my office manager and I followed this crazed patient to the side of our office building. He began jogging behind the office building so my office manager and I split up. I went back to the front of the building. I went around the corner and saw that the patient was emerging from the other side of the building. I ran to some parked cars in the parking lot, still talking to dispatch, and tried to stay out of his vision so that he wouldn't turn on me.

He walked down to the sidewalk in front of our building where there are large bushes. He emerged from behind them as he walked up the stairs and toward a car in the parking lot. I told dispatch that I could get his lisence plate number for them. I described his car and once he had pulled out and I knew he couldn't run me over I ran toward his car. He pulled out just as two other cars were pulling out, leaving him behind them in the line out of the parking lot. I was able to give his lisence plate number to them along with what direction he was headed.

I have no idea how nothing happened to my office manager and I. We were definatly protected from anything happening to us. Heavenly Father definatly had his angels watching over us.

As for the patient: he was found in his home by the police minutes after he arrived home. Another officer met my office manager and I back at our office as we were attempting to clean up the glass from the window.

He told us that from our statements, the evidence of a broken window and television and the assault that the patient had done to our office manager, he was going to be booked into jail.

It was a very humbling experience and I am very blessed to be here right now, especially my office manager. It could have been SO much worse than it was, luckily it was the just the patient who ended up all bloody.-Shina