Now THAT'S a lab result

[emtb2rn]

INR >100. Alive.

Skip details, just lab & living or dead.

[Dranger]

K 1.2 Lived with little symptoms on presentation, symptoms appeared as we increased K

Glucose 1300 Lived

Lactic >25 Dead

HCT 9 or 10 Living but but we could not stop bleeding due to liver failure so was switched to comfort

PLTs 10 Lived

Ph 6.4 Lived initially then died

BP 260/140 Lived, young guy but his kidneys were shot forever

Na low 100s and >165. Alive but probably CPM/brain injury after over-correction

ALT/AST Seen in 6000-7000 range due to liver shock, usually lives

[NickiLaughs, ADN, BSN, RN]

I had a guy who wasn't feeling well come in and creatinine wwas 24. His previous a few months earlier was 1.1 Felt bad, active health guy whose kidneys decided to quit. :/ Still alive...on dialysis the rest of his life.

[azhiker96, BSN, RN]

ALT/AST in the 6000s. Pt. was a lethargic 12 yr old who had ingested too much APAP several days before. Unknown outcome.

[craftymedic]

BAC of 0.800 alive, walking and talking (though not very well or comprehensibly)

Hgb of 6 again alive, walking and talking (but kind of tired)

[Scot21t]

Alcohol level 760 conscious and walking. Came in for the next shift and blood redraw was over 400. Chronic, ya think? Another patient: hemoglobin less than 2 conscious and alert. Another patient: teen traveling with parent sleeping unable to be woken up. Drive from southern U.S. to northern US stopped in ER. Kid had PH 6.8 range and glucose around 2000. Prior to transfer to pediatric hospital he was conscious, alert and standing to pee after removing his catheter painfully.:) EMS & ER provide miracles somewhere daily.

[TNurse4u]

Glucose of 29-AFTER 1gm of glucose (challenge test)-driving, awake but wow I wanted cookies!

[68W-to-66HM5]

Lithium of 13.something m/Eq , Tegretol of 80 mcg / ml.

Plan was simply to dialyze every other day and hold in the psych ward while he hallucinated and seized his way to better health and hope he didn't go into renal / liver failure.

[calivianya, BSN, RN]

K+ 11.8: elderly diabetic triple amputee N.H. resident whose sole remaining limb became gangrenous. Dead. But, this one turned out to be a twofer. The interns were so excited by the wild EKG that we couldn't get them to call a surgeon for the old independent-living guy in the next room who was perforating an ulcer. He's dead, too.

Temp: 108.6 F. not a mark on him, but hyperthermic from firefighting in hot area. Cooked all his blood proteins and bled from everywhere exactly like Ebola. Died in a few hours, not a damn thing we could do.

Tangent, but sometimes I think we have the worst job in the world. These are awful. Especially the firefighter one... I would have been traumatized and crying over the steering wheel in my car on the way home, for sure.

If BP counts, I saw a 350/240-something on an art line once. New diagnosis of hypertension and a bunch of other things; patient had never been to the hospital before and avoided MDs like the plague. The patient bought himself a Cardene drip for several days before we could get the meds right. No neuro deficits.

[No Stars In My Eyes]

If BP counts, I saw a 350/240-something on an art line once.

It would just plain scare the crap out of me to get BP reading that high!

[maybug, ADN, BSN, RN]

platelet of 1. Alive.

[No Stars In My Eyes]

platelet of 1. Alive.

One?

One.

(damn!)

[michigansapphire]

Hey, look, it's a platelet!