Poisoning

Hi, my name is Mark. I'm the triage nurse today. What we need to do is just check your name and your date of birth. Is that okay?

Yeah.

Alright, just tell me your name and date of birth there.

It's Barry Smith, and it's March 16, 1964.

Excellent. Thank you, Barry. So this is triage. We do a brief assessment, sort you out where you need to be and who you need to see. If we can just do your blood pressure while we talk, yeah?

Yeah. That's fine, that's fine.

Any reason I cannot use you?

No, no, no, I'm good. I just feel really, really lightheaded and dizzy at the minute.

So what's been happening?

Well, I'm on beta-blockers from the general practitioner and we had a bit of a family dispute. And to be honest with you, I ain't in the right place and I think I have taken too many beta-blockers but I cannot really remember. I cannot remember that I took it or that I didn't take it so I took another one and I just feel so lightheaded and dizzy. And I just feel... So I thought I'd come down and see you because I don't want anything going wrong. They are new to me. I'm not used to them yet. And all the stress I have got going on, I just overdid it, I think.

Okay. So...

But I just wanted to make sure there was not anything else wrong.

Alright. So what time did you take the...

I took it at... Well, I took it about an hour and a half ago.

Okay. Alright, and what dosage should you have been taking? What did you say?

Well, I'm on... I cannot remember. I cannot remember, to be honest with you.

But you normally take one...

I normally take one in the morning and one at night, and I thought I'd... I thought I'd missed the morning one, so I took another one. And I think I must have had the morning one and I have never felt like this before. It never affected me before so I was not sure if it was the tablet or whether it was something else. So I came straight down.

Okay, okay. So do you have any pain anywhere?

No, no, I just feel really lightheaded, really dizzy. If I stand up quickly, I feel like I'm going to pass out. I just feel really crap.

Any shortness of breath?

The breathing's been up a little bit. I felt my heart... I don't know. It just ain't right. It just isn't like it normally is. I just don't feel like I normally do.

Alright. I'm just going to write down your... Your blood pressure and your pulse are quite low actually, so it sounds like you may have taken an extra dose there. So what we need to do... Do you have any other medical problems?

No, no, no. I'm only on a beta-blocker. I had a bit of a heart issue a few years ago. They put me on medication. They have recently changed it but that's been fine. But I would say I have got a lot of stress going on at the minute and I think I just took a second tablet.

Yeah. You've overlooked it, probably. What was the heart issue? Do you remember?

Yeah, I had a bit of a supraventricular tachycardia going on and they put me on these tablets to calm everything down. It's been fine, but now as I say, something's different today and I just don't feel right. I just feel so lightheaded.

Alright. Any allergies or something?

No. No, I'm not allergic to anything.

Alright. Can I just feel your pulse?

You can.

Yeah, it's quite slow but it is regular, okay. So do you feel like you're going to faint or can you do some standing?

I feel... Yeah, I feel just lightheaded and dizzy. If I stand up quickly or anything like that, it is almost as if my brain follows me a few seconds later.

Alright. What we'll do then we'll put you on our trolley right here and then we'll take you around to A&E with those symptoms. Okay?

Okay.

You will see a doctor.

Super. Thank you.