This Woman Couldn't Believe Emergency Services Didn't Know What A Copper IUD Was
Spoiler alert: they were all men.
Women seem to know about every form of birth control from a young age. Unfortunately, it seems that men never get this memo. They know the basics, but when it comes to really knowing what’s going on with a woman’s body, they’re more than clueless. Most of them can’t even name the anatomical parts of the female anatomy. Why is this an issue? Besides obviously just a lack of care or concern for women, this kind of miseducation (or non-education) can lead to life-threatening effects.
Take one woman who posted a TikTok, sharing a story that is both infuriating and disheartening after her roommate suffered a health crisis. Unfortunately, emergency services weren’t fully equipped with the knowledge needed to fully understand what was happening to her roommate, who was suffering from severe pain after having a copper IUD inserted.
She notes that the “most annoying thing” about the entire process of calling 911 was that not one of the emergency professionals knew what a copper IUD was.
“None of them! The man on the phone, who I was on the phone 911 with, he was like, ‘What's your emergency?’ And I was like, ‘My roommate got a copper IUD inserted and he goes IUD?’ And I'm like, ‘Yeah, like, you know, like the birth control?’ This man is just like, ‘Okay, sounds like you're having a medical emergency. I'll transfer you over to the paramedics.’”
After the fire department arrived on the scene, she was giving them the requisite medical history.
“They're asking their questions, getting a history, and he looks at me and he's like, ‘So what did she have inserted?’ And I'm like, ‘A copper IUD.’ And he looks at his partner, and they're like, ‘IUD?’ I'm like, ‘Yeah, a form of birth control. It goes inside of your uterus. She had it implanted today.’ And this firefighter, he looks at me and he goes, ‘Well, has she taken it out yet?’”
She replied, "No, it's in her uterus. They have to open up your cervix to put this in."
From there, they were even more confused because, she says, these firefighters did not know what an IUD was, especially what a copper IUD was.
She continued, “How do none of them know what an IUD is? And like once I described it, I was like, ‘You know the thing that looks like a T?’ And they were like, ‘Oh, yeah, yeah, that makes sense.’ How do you, how is this really like, is this not common knowledge?”
“So, she's having numbness and tingling in her hands, feet, and extremities. She's throwing up. She's in like 10 out of 10 pain. And none of these people know what an IUD is. So the ambulance shows up, they take her, and I'm still waiting on an update. But like, it was so disheartening. I'm like, ‘Wow, we're really just alone in this, apparently.’ Like f**k!”
The comments on the video did not disappoint.
“Brb going to have a conversation with my firefighter/emt brother to make sure he knows what a copper IUD is,” one user wrote.
Another said, “‘Did she take it out yet’ would have sent me into a spiral”
“The IUD is the most common birth control in the world right?” one user asked.
“DID NONE OF THEM HAVE WIVES? Daughters ? I'm appalled” another said.
Simply put: Men, do better!!
