I've been volunteering in the ER for nearly 3 months now. And, I have seen a great deal, but nothing as compared to tonight. Normally in a typical night, I will clean rooms and stock various cabinets with Saline solution, absorbant pads, etc. However, tonight I was part of a tragic experience that turn into a living saving one.
Because I have built a relationship with the staff in the ER, I am able to participate in more than a typical volunteer gets to do. With that being said, this is what happened. I was chatting with a nurse, and she asked me if I would like to assist her while she gives one her patients some medication. Her patient was very nice, and I talked with her prior to my invite to help, while I was cleaning the bed next to her. She was likely upper 50s, early 60s. She had a son that was a bit older, so I'm just guessing her age, for I have no idea what it was. In the patient's case, she had extremely high BP at staggering 235/150. WOW, right? As a result of her high BP, she was prescribed a vasodilator, but in her case, this medication was a rather rare type. So rare that the nurse and the charge nurse had to look up the proper drip rate, etc. After doing so, I assisted the nurse in punching in the drip rate in the machine that does it for the nurses, as apposed to them manually adjusting the rate. I don't know the name off hand of the machine. Anyway, after we completed the medication initiation, I decided to clean an empty room a patient had just vacated. After I was done cleaning, I stood my post just in sight of the board of names in case another name crossed off, relaying to me to clean another room. I stood there for a few minutes and for no particular reason, I decided to go check on the woman that I had helped a few minutes earlier.
I walk in," Hey, how are you doing? Can you feel the medication making a difference?" I said something similar to that, and I stood by her bed, and immediately, I notice something "isn't quite right." I say "Hey, how are you feeling?" with a little louder voice. Now for the record, this woman was very outgoing, enthusiastic, and friendly, however, she lied there with an absolute expressionless face. Nothing in her face showed any type of recognition where she was, or what was going on. I stood there observing her for a few moments. And finally, she incoherently said,"OK." This seemed incredibly odd to me because I didn't ask her a question that prompted an "OK" answer and she said "OK" much later than my line of questioning. Then, she began to droop her head down, and slightly twitched, with a faint groan in her voice. I didn't wait any longer, I ran to the nurse and relayed my observations. She promptly hung up the phone she was talking on, and ran to her room. She immediately tried to get a response out of the women, which failed drastically. She demanded I go get the doctor, which I did without a second thought.
Now, at this point, I was calmer than I would've have thought I would be, say a couple months ago. But, I walk up to the doctor, and say," 1L is out of it!!" I didn't know the medical jargon, and she was confused in saying,"What??" So I said,"1L NEEDS HELP NOW!!!!!!" With a curse under her breath, the doctor speed into the room along with a couple nurses. She began to administer simple sensory-motor tests on the woman in order to bring about a response. At first, nothing happened. This is the weirdest part to me. With the vasodilation medication in her system, the patient's BP dropped to a semi-normal BP of 140/90, which is still a bit high, but better than before the medication. BUT, her respiratory rate had dropped to a meager 13. And, her chest was in an "expanded" position as if she stopped in the middle of an inhalation of oxygen. I don't understand how the vasodilator could have such an affect. Maybe there was a drip rate/dosage error? Maybe an unbeknownst allergic reaction that occured? Maybe the vasodilator worked "too good." But even if it worked too good, wouldn't that drop her BP, and not her Repiratory rate? I don't know, for I don't have the medical knowledge to understand this concept.
Anyway, after several nurses came in, and did a fine job in team-work and coordination, the patient came out of her brush with death, she was immediately sent off for a CT. I left the ER shortly after because my shift was at its' end.
We all have what ifs? What if I didn't go in the room at all? What if I went in the room a few minutes later than I did? What if the patient didn't come out of her daze at all? What if she died? What if the nurses made a mistake choosing the drip rate? What if this or what if that?
Needless to say, I can say that I did save this woman's life because my innocent stroll into her room. Among other things, this occurence has definitely cemented my choice in the Nursing career, because this feeling of sheer satisfaction I have is what all the hard work, and even, brushes with death is worth. Situations like this makes me wonder "Was there divine intervention, or mere chance?" Personally, I don't put much stock into faith into a higher power, but something like this, really makes me wonder, was there other forces at work?
-Andrew
