to intervene or not to intervene

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Out of curiosity, to my beloved COB's. if you are say for example, visiting a friend, relative, etc at another hospital, snf or whatever and you notice a person in the lobby or public area of the hospital become unresponsive, what is our role and what are we allowed/not allowed to do? assuming you have no info regarding the hospitals P&P.

Specializes in Medical-Surgical/Float Pool/Stepdown.
No, it's not stupid. It's a very valid issue and one that my workplace deals with constantly. When I first began working there 10 years ago, there was a culture where any non-patient visitor who suffered some type of event was rapidly taken into PACU where treatment was given. It was unbelievably frustrating dealing with the aftermath: "Ok, Mr MD, you've started an IV, administered Valium for the seizure, then walked away, leaving us with a non-registered, non-patient." In retrospect, it sounds crazy, I know. But it happened with some regularity.

A new generation of management has been able to tamp down on the cowboy doctors and institute a "Call 911, do not treat other than CPR if required" policy. It works beautifully.

We have always called a code, tried to stabilize as best we could, and then sent the staff member or visitor to the ED as an ambulance would.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

You follow first aid and first responder basics

Is the person awake? If they are just talk with them to keep calm direct someone to call for help.

If they are not awake.....

Are the breathing? DO they have a pulse? If so call for help....if not breathing or no pulse call for help....... begin CPR

When the hospital personnel respond....you give a quick history of what you know and step away.

Emergent, RN CAB

Call for assistance and an AED.

Quick visual check for breathing, check for a pulse in less than 10 seconds.

If no pulse, begin CPR.

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Specializes in Critical care.
I'm not intending to start a nasty thread here, as I've seen many good threads go to the "dark side" but I would hope that if medical personnel that had the knowledge to save one of my family member's or friend's lives that they would not simply delegate the task to "someone else" casually hanging around in a public setting. What is "precious time" to you when someone's life is hanging in the balance?

If you do not wish to get involved, at least call someone who does (i.e.: 911) [emoji106]🏼

Noadls is our resident jester...hold yer horses, haha.

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Specializes in Pediatric Oncology, Pediatric Neurology.
Noadls is our resident jester...hold yer horses, haha.

Got me fired up...good one. [emoji51]

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I mean...if we have visitors get hurt on our property we send them to our ED (usually after rapid responsing them). As an RN we couldn't just leave a patient, we'd be expected to assess them and wait for the rapid response team. If a person - staff, visitor, patient, whatever the case may be, is down and has no pulse - it's a code and has to be handled as such. In either case walking away and doing nothing is not the answer (and is in fact a bigger liability than acting within your scope of practice). It was this way in all the hospitals I worked in. And I've coded visitors.

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I mean...if we have visitors get hurt on our property we send them to our ED (usually after rapid responsing them). As an RN we couldn't just leave a patient, we'd be expected to assess them and wait for the rapid response team. If a person - staff, visitor, patient, whatever the case may be, is down and has no pulse - it's a code and has to be handled as such. In either case walking away and doing nothing is not the answer (and is in fact a bigger liability than acting within your scope of practice). It was this way in all the hospitals I worked in. And I've coded visitors.

(The OP's original question was what do you do when you're a visitor at a hospital at which you're not employed.)

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Noadls is our resident jester...hold yer horses, haha.

Jokes aside, in this exact situation that the OP described, I'd try to alert hospital staff to deal with it. If I couldn't get ahold of anyone, I would call emergency. But that is the greatest extent of what I would do. I don't work at this hospital, and I do not want to incur any liability related to my designation.

There should be an AED and adequate personnel to deal with such a situation at a hospital. This should be treated as a code anyhow. If the hospital doesn't want to do its job, why should someone that isn't even an employee step in? This sets a bad precedent.

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(The OP's original question was what do you do when you're a visitor at a hospital at which you're not employed.)

And, you are a nurse...So, yeah, it's like a scenario on street across the hospital...The difference thou is you as a nurse would code the person, AND, could start CPR if comfortable not to waste the precious time???

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Noadls is our resident jester...hold yer horses, haha.

That took me a few weeks to figure out when I started visiting AN regularly, I think I got incited a few times until I caught on, lmao.

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That took me a few weeks to figure out when I started visiting AN regularly, I think I got incited a few times until I caught on, lmao.

I am one of the few that think NOADLS says what he means.

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And, you are a nurse...So, yeah, it's like a scenario on street across the hospital...The difference thou is you as a nurse would code the person, AND, could start CPR if comfortable not to waste the precious time???

Speak for yourself -- as I already said, I would notify someone who is obligated to respond, and that's as far as I go. If I'm not obligated to respond because I'm on the clock at work, it's entirely my choice whether or even if I want to get involved.

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Specializes in Pediatric Oncology, Pediatric Neurology.
That took me a few weeks to figure out when I started visiting AN regularly, I think I got incited a few times until I caught on, lmao.

Great way to get your "AN ego" in check...I feel like a real dum dum

Lesson learned

Carry on...

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