So tonight we heard the words "code blue, lobby gift shop." I ran down there, only to be directed to the parking lot, where and old man was being taken out of his car. No pulse, started CPR in the parking lot. Intubated him and got him to the ED where he was pronounced about 15 minutes later.
We didnt know anything about him, but he had a cell phone in his car, and an asthma inhaler clutched in his hand.
We found out later that he was here to visit his daughter, who is a pt on our unit. The daughter was just diagnosed with stage 4 liver cancer today. The family came to tell her that her dad passed away on his way to see her.
After a while, I went in to check on the pt and sat on the bed with her....I told her that she was in everyones thoughts and prayers, and that I was with her dad when he passed. I didnt tell her that it was sad and scary. That we knew the code wasnt going to have a happy ending. That his ribs were crunching everytime we did compressions....that I cried when I took the crash cart back to the unit and saw that someone had thrown his jacket in the garbage can already......I told her that it was peaceful, and that there were so many nurses there that wanted to help him.
What a crappy night. We all have so much to be thanful for and dont even realize it.
