Desparate, freaking out

colleen10 · Jan 23, 2003

All I can say and add is my own personal story. My grandfather has had 2 double by passes. The first when he was about 60, the second a few years after that. Not really surprising though since he has been an air traffic controller his whole life.

After the first heart attack all the men in family became vigilant about preventing heart disease and monitoring their health. Most of my uncles are relatively healthy and active people and no one would have ever expected that my 45 year old uncle who runs 5 miles every single day and is the coach of the local HS track team would have a heart attack, but he did last year. Even his cardiologist whom he sees on a regular basis was not able to predict that it would happen. In fact, he said that had my uncle not been so healthy he never would have survived the MI.

So, if this gentleman did suffer from an MI, sometimes these things just happen and unless you have a crystal ball, you just can't know when it is going to happen.

jdomep · Jan 23, 2003

I am so sorry you have to go through this.

As a student stories like this scare me to death yet motivate me at the same time.

FWIW my thoughts are with you ...

RED_ALERT37 · Jan 23, 2003

Defib queen.... you didnt miss anything !!! From the way you described the situation you followed your protocol as a triage nurse. Apparently one of two things happen... either the patient wasnt truly describing the symptoms he had (which to me by the way sounded like the flu or kidney type infection) or the patient became increasingly worse without telling anyone.

The reason people come to the ER are to get advanced mecical treatment, you are simply a tool to get them into the system... unless you have some extrodinary talents like a CT SCAN, lab tech monitor system at your finger tips you arent going to catch anything.....pssssssst.... if you do have these talents please tell me where you can buy one !!! If you say Walmart ... I will be devestated !!!! hahha

Hang in there and just stick to your beliefs... dont allow anyone to make you out to be a bad nurse... you do your job, do it well, and guess what you are human...... and yes people die .....with or without help......... :)

NurseDennie, BSN, RN · Jan 23, 2003

((((((((((((((defib queen))))))))))))))))))))

Love

Dennie

LoriAnnRN · Jan 24, 2003

I haven't checked this site in a few days and my post is late but I had a very bad experience with the first patient I ever extubated in Neuro ICU. A 33 year old male with astrocytoma 'debulking' on day #3 post-op, perfectly normal recovery (so far). I was brand new to ICU and had been an RN for less than a year. Anyway, I did what the protocol called for and I did it with an experienced RN and former RT. The poor guy never took a breath after I removed the ET tube--laryngospasm. We coded him for what seemed like an eternity but with no luck. The neurosurgeon called me at 4am the next day (I worked dayshift) and asked me what happened, asked ALOT of questions. His widow never attempted a lawsuit, much to my surprise. It was such a horrible thing and I'll never forget it.

sixes · Mar 1, 2003

Please don't beat up on yourself. I have never worked triage, but with 5 boys i've seen my share of ER. The triage nurse always takes vitals. I assume his was within normal ranges or flags would have come up. Perhaps he had a K defience from vomitting,etc. Only lab work would catch this. We are always told while waiting and sometimes it has been up to 4 hours, if we feel worse, or our condition changes to ring the nurse and be reassessed. Perhaps it was just his time. Have a good soak in the tub pamper yourself go back to work and have a nice day. I'm sure you did nothing wrong

l.rae · Mar 1, 2003

defibqueen....any up dates yet?