What other medical emergencies can look like excited delirium?
By Chris Lawrence Excited delirium (ED) has become a high profile problem in policing. There is much for us to learn about ED; however, there are some other medical problems that officers may encounter that can result in behavior very similar to a person experiencing ED. Not everyone exhibiting “ED-like” behavior is a substance abuser (although I have included a substance abuse example in this column – the DTs) or a person living with a mental illness. While police officers cannot make a diagnosis, (society only allows physicians to do that) we need to know a little bit about these other problems, particularly because we may encounter them in our patrol activities. Each problem can result in a fatal outcome even if properly handled. Bottom line here is for anything that resembles ED, subjects should be assessed by someone with medical training beyond that of a police officer. When handling these types of situations, get the subject to medical assistance. In some ED-like situations, dra
By Chris Lawrence Excited delirium (ED) has become a high profile problem in policing. There is much for us to learn about ED; however, there are some other medical problems that officers may encounter that can result in behavior very similar to a person experiencing ED. Not everyone exhibiting “ED-like” behavior is a substance abuser (although I have included a substance abuse example in this column – the DTs) or a person living with a mental illness. While police officers cannot make a diagnosis, (society only allows physicians to do that) we need to know a little bit about these other problems, particularly because we may encounter them in our patrol activities. Each problem can result in a fatal outcome even if properly handled. Bottom line here is for anything that resembles ED, subjects should be assessed by someone with medical training beyond that of a police officer. When handling these types of situations, get the subject to medical assistance. In some ED-like situations, dra
