The 5 Lies Every Patient Tells EMS and Nurses (And What They’re Really Hiding)

“I’m fine.”

That was the first thing she said. Blood pooling in the creases of her neck, heart rate 140, pupils wide enough to swallow the dark.

I remember that call like it was branded into me. She had hit a tree doing 60, seatbelt still locked, airbags deployed. And she looked me dead in the eye and said:

“I’m fine.”

We all know the script. The five lies. The ones we hear so often we start to take them personally.

But what if I told you they’re not just lies?

They’re defense mechanisms.

Shields.

Sometimes, cries for help we haven’t learned to decode yet.

Let me walk you through them.

Not from a textbook.

From the back of the rig, the ER bay, the trauma room.

Lie #1: “I don’t take anything.”

You’ve heard it, haven’t you?

Patient’s in V-tach, and you’re staring at a pill bottle in the purse like it’s a bomb we weren’t warned about. No blood thinners, huh? No psych meds? No blood pressure meds even though the cuff just whispered 210/110?

It’s not always deception.

Sometimes it’s shame.

Sometimes it's the memory fog of addiction or a system that made them afraid to tell the truth.

Lie #2: “I have no allergies.”

Until they’re bright red and clawing at their throat because the 'routine' antibiotic just set their immune system on fire.

And then it hits you: they weren’t trying to lie.They were trying not to be a problem.

Lie #3: “It’s not that bad.”

The 65-year-old man with a smile so polite you’d think he was hosting brunch while his ECG screams anterior MI.

Pain is cultural. Pain is conditioned. And sometimes, pain is punishment they think they deserve.

Lie #4: “I just need to rest.”

Translation: I’m scared to death but don’t want to seem weak in front of my kids.

I once carried a man out of his recliner who hadn't peed in two days, skin the color of a dirty penny, and still told me, “I’ll be fine if I just sleep it off.”

That “rest” was renal failure in disguise.

Lie #5: “I didn’t want to bother anyone.”

This one wrecks me.

The elderly woman who waited two days to call 911 for abdominal pain because “you all looked busy last time you came.”

The dad who didn’t mention the chest tightness because his kid had a softball game.

The nurse who pushed through dizziness because we’re “short-staffed.”

They don’t want to be a burden.

But sometimes, they die trying not to be.

Here’s the truth:

The lies patients tell us are never just about facts.

They’re about fear.

Guilt.

Dignity.

Survival.

And if you’ve worked long enough in this field, you start to hear the truths behind the lies louder than the words themselves.

But here’s the real twist…

There’s a sixth lie.

One even we fall for.

Even when the patient says it and we want to believe it.

It’s the most dangerous one of all.

Part 2 coming soon: The Lie That Kills.

Your Turn

What’s the most common lie your patients have told you and what was really going on?

Drop it in the comments. Let’s expose the truth behind the silence.

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