Comment by stephen | Hacker News Reader

Comment by stephen | Hacker News Reader

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Yes, well, unfortunately but realistically, this is just standard admittance practice for psych wards (per the article this all happened at Yale-New Haven, not Yale itself).

I'm sure it's horrible and humiliating, but a) it's not torture (a word another commenter used), and b) you're admitting known-unstable people into very close quarters with doctors and nurses who will care, feed, and bathe them over the next several days/weeks.

So, yes, hospitals have decided this safety check is warranted. "OMG covering their ass!". Yes, exactly. They're probably covering their ass because sometime ago, someone did get something in, and bad things happened.

If I were a doctor/nurse working in a psych ward year around, I would appreciate the safety check.

The author says, sarcastically, "I was here for my own good" (with various dangerous items removed). She was actually right. They take precautions for a reason, not just to be assholes.

> I'm sure it's horrible and humiliating, but a) it's not torture (a word another commenter used), and b) you're admitting known-unstable people into very close quarters with doctors and nurses who will care, feed, and bathe them over the next several days/weeks.

In theory you are right. In reality, you run a huge risk of triggering a bigger problem if the patient have a sexual abuse history.

> In theory you are right. In reality, you run a huge risk of triggering a bigger problem if the patient have a sexual abuse history.

Depending on the intake procedure, that can be part of the 'flowchart' to deal with.

I've been there when a suicidal person pulled a razor blade out and started trying to slash us as we were trying to take a chest x-ray after an OD with vomit inhalation. I do not believe that any search risks a bigger problem - it is lucky that no one was hurt (patient included). The later search (including x-raying the patient top to toe) found more razor blades, some internal. Edit: missed word.

Wouldn't a metal detector do the job?

Possibly, I have never used one. A razor blade is very small, and the consequences of a miss could be high so that may be a factor.

Metal detector sensitivities can be turned up to where they detect even pins in a bone. The bigger risk with the metal detector approach is sharpened plastics or glass.

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