Code tonight.

[josh1974]

So just felt like posting about a code we had at the end of my shift. Was finishing up some charting and getting ready to clock out when an aide went running by saying we got a code blue. Took off after her and got to the room. Now this guy is a vent dependent and had come unhooked somehow. Unresponsive, no pulse, etc.. Crash cart rolls in and I help get the backboard under him. Two RT's are there at this time, and dear ole Maggie starts compressions while the other ambus. Maggie, bless her soul is a 75 year old Brit firplug, but just didnt have enough to do good enough compressions. she woulda probably ended up next in line! lol. So I jumped in and took over on compressions. Heard a couple ribs pop, hope they didnt break. Everyone kept asking if i needed a break but after about 15 minutes or so and we got a damn pulse! then some shallow breaths n such. Paramedics show up and he's got a sat of 96% but still unresponsive. So that was a couple hours ago and he may not have made it to the hospital, wont know till tomorrow/today. But this was my first code where we actually got someone back. Thanks for listening to my ramble.

[josh1974, LPN]

The alarm on the vent was sounding in the room, just not the non functioning one in the hall that can actually be heard. And gee! I sorta know what the procedure is for a vent pt when you have to do cpr. My RT was at bedside when I arrived and said he was disconnected from his vent when she came in. Going to the hospital to see him today. LTC baby!

[nursel56]

Hope he is doing better, Josh! If you only had one patient on a vent, or they were all very close together, you could use a baby monitor to hear like we do in home healthcare!

[Larry77, RN]

always seems to happen at end or beginning of shift l0l. I am suprised that he didn't get shocked if you had to do compression for 15min, most of our doctors will shock if nothing after 8 minutes or so

To shock after 8 minutes without knowing what the rhythm is sounds a little silly to me. Are you saying without a monitor you just shock after awhile? I've been involved in many, many, codes and we do not shock unless we have a "shockable" rhythm...even if you are running the code for a long time. What would be the point in shocking a heart without electrical impulses? Works on TV though :-)