I just had to share my experience from this evening with you all! I was talking to my mom this evening and she invited me to come to dinner with them at Cracker Barrel, and since I wasn't doing anything, I figure why not? I met my family at Cracker Barrel and on the way in, I passed one of the guys I work with on the fire department there eating with his family. So we all said hi and went on our way to eat dinner. After they got done eating, in comes another girl I know from the fire department... she was working for a private ambulance that day, so they were their with their squad.
A few minutes later I see people running around in the parking lot and someone running with an ambu bag. My dad is a paramedic, so him and I jump up and run out to see what is going on and the guy I know from the fire department says "I don't think my grandma is breathing." It turns out she was in full arrest! We pulled her out of the car and one person started chest compressions while I was bagging. We ended up having her intubated and everything before the second ambulance got there.
It was just amazing to see how God had put us all in the right place at the right time to help her!! Going to Cracker Barrel was a spur of the moment choice for me and the people I know from the private ambulance had actually started out somewhere else, got toned out and then didn't feel like going back to the same place so they came to Cracker Barrel. Having the private ambulance there gave us access to all kinds of medical equipment and then with all of the trained staff there, we were able to intervene quickly.
I drove the family up to the hospital and the staff told me they had a heart rhythm back and were just trying to stabilize her. Things were looking good when I left. Even though I am an ICU nurse/EMT and I do things like that every day, it is just different when it is out in the community and you are not in your normal element. The family kept thanking us and apologizing for cutting our dinner short, but I told them, that if it was my grandma, I would want them to do the same thing.
As nurses, we are never truly "off duty", yes we may be off the clock, but we should always be available to help if the need arises.
