Emergency calls

[Amber32]

Hi,

I am a student nurse and wanted to ask about what happens in an emergency. I understand if I find someone who seems to have a cardiac arrest to check for breathing, if no response and no breathing then pull the emergency buzzer it they are for resus. Should I then start CPR or should I call 2222? I'm not sure who is responsible for the 2222 call. I think uni has confused me a little.

I have never seen a cardiac arrest but want to feel prepared!

Thanks

[NICU Guy, BSN, RN]

Check for breathing and pulse, yell for help, press the code button, start CPR. After pressing the code button, it will be up to you and the nurses on your unit to maintain CPR. The code team should arrive in less than 5 minutes. If you are on an ICU unit, you and your coworkers are the code team.

2222 is unique to your hospital. Who's number is 2222.

[Amber32]

Thanks for your help.

In the UK 2222 is the emergency number to call for medical emergency or cardiac arrest. We have to pull the buzzer to alert the team on the ward and phone 2222 to alert emergency resus team

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

You need to ask your instructor this question. You should have been trained in CPR and on this scenario.. before you walked onto a unit.

Peace to you.

[GrumpyRN, NP]

You need to ask your instructor this question. You should have been trained in CPR and on this scenario.. before you walked onto a unit.

Peace to you.

No, the OP is a student. Students would get only the most basic teaching and would be told to get senior help. 2222 is a UK number for calling crash team in most hospitals. When handing over sick patients a question asked would be "Are they for the 2's?"

This is a "Nursing in the United Kingdom" forum.

Amber32, if you find an arrested patient, you shout for help and commence CPR. Whoever arrives should call 2222. If you are alone YOU call 2222 first then commence CPR.

Don't worry about it, I've known nurses with years of experience panic at arrests. I only became good at them because I was ALS trained, kept up my qualifications and participated in a fair few arrests.

Students should only be involved in an arrest situation to swap over with whoever is doing CPR. It is another learning experience - scary but a learning experience.

Remember, take a deep breath first, you will be fine.

[spacemonkey15]

The procedure you follow should be covered in a BLS/HLS session prior to you starting placement, along with any local variations, such as how you describe the situation when you call the 2's. On starting placements, you should be shown around the ward/unit, including where emergency equipment and actions on emergencies.

You should be able to find the algorhythms you would follow on the resus council U.K. website.