Evan Buckmiller

Salt Lake County, Utah

I grew up in the distant land of Salt Lake City. I had the opportunity to speak with Emily B., who works at Intermountain Medical center. Beyond the "common" issues, (STD’s, drugs, alcohol, crime-related issues, etc…) she had these things to say.

1.       An increase in patients due to energy drinks. Emily was the first to admit that she will sometimes drink a Mountain Dew to help her last through her shift (she works nights), but she has noticed in recent years the increase of patients due to energy drink “overdose”. She states that those drinks are so high in some chemicals, and some people react negatively to them, citing cases of heart issues and even psychological impairment that some patients have presented with.

2.       Over-informed patients. Emily was quick to point out that people are more educated. With the increase in information that is readily available to patients through the internet or other means, patients are becoming better informed. However, while there are benefits to informed patients, there have been many cases of patients who feel no need to consult a doctor, but rather to treat themselves, which often times leads to other health issues. Another problem the doctors see are patients who feel they are better qualified to say what treatments they need, and do not respect the doctor’s orders, or the doctor’s opinion.

3.       Increase in distracted driving incidents. There have been numerous cases where drivers have been distracted and have caused accidents that have drastically altered their lives. She mentioned that there have been laws that have been created that try to enforce against distracted driving, but she feels that more needs to be done. She did not know whether it is more legislation, or what needs to happen to curb this problem, but it needs to stop! Emily stated that her heart has been broken a few too many times by the tragedies that she has witnessed because of distracted driving.

4.       Air pollution. Emily noted that recently in the Utah legislature there has been a lot of hype over air quality. During the winter, Utah’s air was among the worst in the nation. Emily said that her own asthma had gotten worse, but that she was not the only one. There were many patients who visited the Emergency Department reporting difficulty breathing. In most cases this was induced by the poor air quality. In some of the local communities, the lawmakers have put in place laws that restrict idling your car in an attempt to improve air quality.

5.       Finally, somewhat low amounts of blood and other blood products. There have nearly been a few instances this year where the blood bank at IMC has not been able to provide the blood products that were necessary for life-saving operations. She mentioned that IMC is one of the only trauma-1 equipped facilities in the intermountain west, so they usually have the largest stocks of blood products to administer, and they have recently come dangerously close to depleting their reserves.