I can't sleep.... today was awful. I work night in the ICU, all adults, never pediatrics. I was sleeping today and woken up by my husband yelling for me, he said there was a baby in the lake (we have a large retention pond next door. ) I bolt out of bed and run outside in my pajamas to find the neighbors attempting CPR on a couch on their porch- I jump in and grab the child off the couch and place him on the floor and resume CPR.
He was saturated, blue, and so cold- no one knew how long he was in the water. I didn't say a word to anyone, just went into autopilot whispering the compression counts and working until the ambulance finally arrived and the EMT placed his hands over mine to take over. He asked quietly if I had any response and all I could do is make a tiny nod no.
the breaths were the worst, I can't even describe the sound , but I know I was getting air into his lungs, but god there was so much water in his lungs. Evertime I try to sleep I hear that awful noise and I keep hearing the moms cries and her repeatedly saying I'm sorry to the other people. The man (turns out it was grandpa that found him) was so upset, he kept hitting the wall with his hands and screaming for help.
I thank god god for my training, autopilot kicked in and during the crisis I tuned out all of the distractions and just did the CPR. I can't imagine he will make it but the officers said he had a pulse and was on the ventilator at the hospital as of this afternoon, no updates since then.
I have done CPR before but at work, this was my first time outside of work and with a child. I hope to never have to do it again. I have so much respect for nurses who work with pediatrics. That was horrible.
