[ShayRN]

I was at the nurses station and the monitor tech said, SOMEBODY GO CHECK ON 9A NOW, in that voice that says NOW, lol. I go running and the woman is blue. I push the code button, turn on her light and start lowering her head so I can start compressions. At the same time, she gasps, turns her head, looks at me and smiles and is all of a sudden a nice pretty pink. OMG, I have never seen anything like it. I called out to the desk and asked what her monitor was now and she said, back in sinus! I asked the woman how she felt and she said, fine, why? LMAO, by this time all the doctors and nurses from other units were on the floor and I had to explain YES, she was blue when I found her, but she is fine now. Luckily, I had a strip of about 30 seconds of VFIB, (YES THAT IS RIGHT, V FIB!!!) To back up my claim. We ended up transferring her to intensive, but sheesh. Ever seen anything like that?

[medsurgnurse]

I'm glad your patient had a good outcome! No I haven't seen anything exactly like that. You learn, see or do something new everyday.

[weetziebat]

Haven't seen anything like you described, but have been in a weird code situation.

Was working in NBICU when twins were admitted. The little girl was not doing well and finally coded. Was pronounced dead by the attending physician and placed (wrapped in a blanket) in an open crib till someone could take her body to the morgue. A couple of hours later, I had time to take her downstairs, and re-arranged her blanket. By golly, she was pink, breathing just fine, with heartrate a steady 150.

Her parents had been told of her death, and the poor doc was beside himself - couldn't believe what he'd seen, or what to do about it. She died again a few hours later, but the doc kept her body in the unit forever, to make sure she was actually dead.

[HONEYBEAR]

Originally Posted by weetziebat

Haven't seen anything like you described, but have been in a weird code situation.

Was working in NBICU when twins were admitted. The little girl was not doing well and finally coded. Was pronounced dead by the attending physician and placed (wrapped in a blanket) in an open crib till someone could take her body to the morgue. A couple of hours later, I had time to take her downstairs, and re-arranged her blanket. By golly, she was pink, breathing just fine, with heartrate a steady 150.

Her parents had been told of her death, and the poor doc was beside himself - couldn't believe what he'd seen, or what to do about it. She died again a few hours later, but the doc kept her body in the unit forever, to make sure she was actually dead.

WOW

[unknown99]

That was an "OH MY GOSH" moment!!
Several years ago , I had a guy vagal when we stood him up to transfer him to the chair. He went down, his heart stopped , and his respers stopped. We laid him back dow, called the code, and did one set of 2 breaths, and he pinked up, looked at me, and said "Am I dead?"

[oramar]

Originally Posted by ShayRN

I was at the nurses station and the monitor tech said, SOMEBODY GO CHECK ON 9A NOW, in that voice that says NOW, lol. I go running and the woman is blue. I push the code button, turn on her light and start lowering her head so I can start compressions. At the same time, she gasps, turns her head, looks at me and smiles and is all of a sudden a nice pretty pink. OMG, I have never seen anything like it. I called out to the desk and asked what her monitor was now and she said, back in sinus! I asked the woman how she felt and she said, fine, why? LMAO, by this time all the doctors and nurses from other units were on the floor and I had to explain YES, she was blue when I found her, but she is fine now. Luckily, I had a strip of about 30 seconds of VFIB, (YES THAT IS RIGHT, V FIB!!!) To back up my claim. We ended up transferring her to intensive, but sheesh. Ever seen anything like that?

I used to work on a cardiac unit that had patients waiting for Automatic Implantable Defib. insertions. They were prone to episodes just like you describe. This person needs to see a cardiologist that specializes in people that have these episodes. They are very prone to sudden death. When I worked there was a special test that determined what part of the heart the vfib originated.(geez, I used to know the name of the test but just can't recall at moment, I am getting old) I hear these days they are even doing a test that destroys the small section of the heart muscle that sends out the impulse that initiates the vfib.

[sjb2005]

I've seen lots of bizarre codes and bizarre dying processes. Recently a hospice pt had expired/pronounced by the nurse with no heart or lung sounds twice and in front of his family. After a bit, he took a deep breath and hung around for another day or 2.

[lost in boston]

The whole theory behind "PRECORDIAL THUMP" Great job!!!!!

[Angie O'Plasty, RN]

Originally Posted by oramar

I used to work on a cardiac unit that had patients waiting for Automatic Implantable Defib. insertions. They were prone to episodes just like you describe. This person needs to see a cardiologist that specializes in people that have these episodes. They are very prone to sudden death. When I worked there was a special test that determined what part of the heart the vfib originated.(geez, I used to know the name of the test but just can't recall at moment, I am getting old) I hear these days they are even doing a test that destroys the small section of the heart muscle that sends out the impulse that initiates the vfib.

Would you be referring to EPS--Electrophysiological Studies--that try to recreate the dysrhythmia and then ablate it?

I'd heard that ablation was rarely successful in a dysrhythmia of ventricular origin. Would think that the safest way to go would be with an AICD. That's Artificial Implanted Cardiac Defibrillator, for you nursing students following along.

[michelle126]

Originally Posted by shellyjellybelly

I've seen lots of bizarre codes and bizarre dying processes. Recently a hospice pt had expired/pronounced by the nurse with no heart or lung sounds twice and in front of his family. After a bit, he took a deep breath and hung around for another day or 2.

omg...happened with my dad. He would stop breathing for like a minute. Then start up again and go for like 1-2 per minute...did this for almost 24 hrs (darn fool was waiting for my sis from Texas)