My Back Office Blunder: Fireman down!

Back Office Blunders are true tales of unusual client encounters in the back office-and beyond. We recommend discussing this scenario at your next team meeting. Then discuss how you might handle this challenging client encounter.

One afternoon, I admitted a big burly guy who brought in his cat to have its eye checked out. The doctor didn't need help, so I shut the door behind me. Minutes later, the doctor stuck his head out of the exam room, shouting for help. While the doctor was poking around the cat's eyeball, the owner hit the deck-passed out cold!

We called the paramedics, and within minutes a fire crew and ambulance arrived. By this time, the owner had come around and sheepishly admitted he was an ex firefighter himself. He couldn't believe that with all the horrible things he'd witnessed, seeing the veterinarian check his cat's eye would do him in. Worse yet, he knew every one of the 911 crew that showed up. He got quite a roasting from his friends.

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