what's the most outrageous thing a visitor to your icu ever did?
i was taking care of a multi-system failure patient -- vent, balloon pump, dialysis and about nine drips. he was an inmate with a life sentence, and when we explored the option of withdrawal of care although his family was all for it, the state said no. that would be shortening his life sentence.
despite all we could do, it was obvious that the guy was dying, and the state prison system decided it would be humane to let his son visit the guy one last time. only one problem. the son is also an inmate with a life sentence. nevertheless, our sw prevailed and managed to arrange a visit from the son. there were two prison guards for our intubated, comatose patient and four for the son who was handcuffed and had leg shackles as well.
the visit was going well. the son was quite pleasant and appropriate, asking reasonable questions, very cooperative. i started to relax around him and more or less forget the circumstances of his visit. suddenly, a shout erupted and i was tackled from behind. there was a lot of yelling and carrying on, and i couldn't see a thing because i was on my stomach, underneath an obese prison guard. when the dust cleared, sonny was on the floor with the other five guards on top of him and there was a 3 foot long, homemade machete on the floor. seems sonny was determined to shorten dad's life sentence!
