Chasing Victor

A nurse came running through our unit faster than I've ever seen before. It was Victor. He escaped out the door and disappeared down the stairs. Hot on his trail was a patient with her bare bottom exposed. Hot on her trail was a nurse from our sister unit across the hall.

The patient was yelling for Victor, but it was too late, he was gone. She started searching the other patient's rooms, which we really frown on, then she noticed the door. She took off, dragging the tiny nurse who was trying to corral her back in. An orderly joined in the fray and brought a wheelchair to try and retrieve the patient in.

The patient was strong as an ox and believed that she was fighting for her life. She had to get out of the hospital and was not going to get in the chair. When the patient took a swing at the nurse, we called security.

It just so happened that a security guard was making his rounds at the time and came across the escalating situation. So, what did he do? He hid around the corner and took occasional peeks.

Being the biggest and strongest person present, I decided to step in. I sneaked behind her, grabbed her gown and pulled her down into the chair. Wrapping a blanket around her and tying it in the back, kept her from hitting us. The orderly tried to push the wheelchair, but she wrapped her feet around the wheels. I grabbed her feet, lifted her legs off the ground and the orderly wheeled her while I walked along carrying her feet. We dumped her in her room where she was tied down.

A good ten minutes later, the security crew arrived. It was only then that the first security guard came out of hiding. It's a good thing that we were just dealing with a nearly naked, unarmed woman. I hate to think what would happen if we had a real emergency.

Later I found out why Victor was being chased. According to the patient, he was the only one who knew the way out. If that were true, I would have been chasing Victor too.