Can anyone offer reassurance? I passed out while working in ER this week!

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Oh, the humilation of it all....I am an ER tech, volunteer EMT and soon-to-be paramedic student. I have been in the health care field for over 10 years and have never once passed out during a procedure. Until now:uhoh21:...earlier this week I was observing a good arterial lac and everything was going fine. Next thing I knew, the staff was yelling my name, asking if I was ok. I remember feeling sooo comfortable-not hurt at all. They told me I'd passed out and hit the floor-hard!! I didn't even remember it...They checked my CBG: 90 mg/dl, and transfered me to a bed and put me in trendeleburg position-my BP was 79/40! I gradually improved my bp and they kept checking orthostatics. Neuro exam performed by the doc was negative. I am just left with some bad bruising and an even more bruised ego!! My two good friends on that evening said this is normal, that I probably locked my knees or was simply hypotensive. A couple others (who weren't so kind), kept taunting me saying "Are you sure you want be a Paramedic?" Followed by their laughter. This has NEVER happened to me, and I'm not sure why it did. I'm a healthy 31 y/o woman and have seen much more intense truama and drama from the level I ER where I'm from. Anyone have any good tips, or ideas to make me feel better about this and less ashamed?

And yes, I am planning to be a Paramedic:lol2:

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Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

Continue with your plans. Females can get hypotensive due to menorrhagia or other common reasons, including dehydration. I would get my blood sugar checked (even a HgbA1C to see what it has averaged over 90 days) and check BP several days in a row. If you have not seen an MD in a while it might be good to get a check up.

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Specializes in ER, Teaching, HH, CM, QC, OB, LTC.

Been there done that! It does hurt the ego though. All bruises will heal and you'll be laughing at yourself soon. ;)

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Specializes in LTC, med-surg.

Is there a possibility that you're pregnant?

Sorry to hear about your unkind co-workers...

Diana

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I am an EMT (who at one time wanted to become a flight medic). I've been in many aspects of healthcare and have seen some truly gruesome things that would give the faint hearted nightmares forever. Nothing ever made me light headed, and surly I never passed out..until one time. It was a very run of the mill call. It was a very very severe nosebleed. When the call came in for a nose bleed we all kind of rolled our eyes thinking..ok, you need a bus for a bloody nose??!! We got there and none of us had ever seen one like this. The seasoned medic made mention that he had never seen anything like it. It was as if all this pts blood was just running out of his nose! Anyway, we ran the call, got the pt to the ER, and we were told we could stay to watch. The others left and I hung back to observe. Nothing out of the ordinary regarding treatment, sights, smells etc. I remember getting a somewhat euphoric feeling and then waking up on the floor as I was being lifted onto a stretcher.

Long story short, all my tests came back fine. Blood sugar was normal, nothing odd at all. Neuro checks were A Ok. They never did figure out what the problem was. I was forever teased about it..ya, her, she can eat spaghtti and meatballs while working a partial decapitation but Lord, don't get a bloody nose around her, she'll hit the floor like a ton of bricks.

Don't worry. It happens to the best of us. Of course our egos are hurt and bruised but its all good. 8 years later, I no longer do calls but do run into my pervious co-workers and to this day they STILL tease and act as if they are getting a bloody nose :lol2: I laugh about it now, but i KNOW EXACTLY how you feel. In time, you'll be laughing at yourself and making better jokes about it than those who think they are funny :trout:

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As a burned out old Medic let me throw in my two cents.

#1. I agree with Diana, R/O pregnancy right off the bat. You never know and syncope is pretty common for pregnancy.

#2. I know this is going to sound weird but, you might have held your breath to the point of passing out. I have seen students and others do this, they get so wired they hold their breath while watching something and actually pass out from hypoxia.

#3. Most importantly make sure it's not a medical issue and then forget about it. You just might have found your 'thing'. Every Paramedic, EMT and even Nurses I have ever worked with has one thing that gets to them. For some it's lots of blood, or puke, or some other vile body fluid. For me it's always been stool from a lower GI bleed, for some reason the smell makes me want yack. :eek:

Don't get discouraged it happens to a lot of people, maybe even the ones who made the snide comments.

Peace,

Tripps

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Thanks to everyone who responded to me!! You are all incredibly kind, and I do feel better knowing it happens "to the best of them!" It's good to hear that when some of you experienced this, you got through it and now can laugh! I know I'll be able to, because luckily I wasn't seriously injured, did not get the pt's blood on me, and no, I'm not pregnant-hopefully someday, but as an aspiring flight-medic, that would definatley be a rough thing for me right now.

You all are the best! Thanks again!!

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Specializes in Med Surg, Hospice.

Oh yeah... the smell of poop does it to me every time... doesn't matter if it's a normal BM or C-Diff, I'm gagging all over the place. Don't feel too bad... In high school, I passed out in chemistry class... right after I lit a Bunsen burner. I fainted because I'd gone over 24 hours without eating. People still "remind" me of it 27 years later....

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I passed out watching an epidural in nursing school. poor women. :lol2:

my bg was 42 AFTER orange juice.

I ran out of a room once about 5 years ago. The bile smell really got to me that day. Thank goodness I waved a tech in to help the patient in time.

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Specializes in M/S/Ortho/Bari/ED.

see my post from a few weeks ago! :lol2:

Don't sweat it! The SAME thing happened to me a month ago and I was horrified! You have to let it go and move on with your training. It does not mean you aren't or can't be good at what you do....

That is what I have spent the last few weeks figuring out as a new RN in the ER after my embarrassing fallout! Just don't beat yourself up or let other people make you feel like you don't belong there. Only YOU know that. :)

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Do you think you passed out because of what you were seeing?? Or maybe it was for some other reason??

I've passed out a handful of times for no reason at all. Maybe low blood sugar... otherwise... we still don't know.

Just wanted to mention... that maybe it didn't have anything to do with what was going on... you sound like you've seen quite a bit already...

Just thought I'd mention that. Good luck with paramedic school!

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Specializes in M/S/Ortho/Bari/ED.

I agree with Diana and Captain Tripps... you might want to R/O pregnancy just in case, for that is what ended up being my story....:monkeydance:

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