I can't sleep.... today was awful. I work night in the ICU, all adults, never pediatrics. I was sleeping today and woken up by my husband yelling for me, he said there was a baby in the lake (we have a large retention pond next door. ) I bolt out of bed and run outside in my pajamas to find the neighbors attempting CPR on a couch on their porch- I jump in and grab the child off the couch and place him on the floor and resume CPR.
He was saturated, blue, and so cold- no one knew how long he was in the water. I didn't say a word to anyone, just went into autopilot whispering the compression counts and working until the ambulance finally arrived and the EMT placed his hands over mine to take over. He asked quietly if I had any response and all I could do is make a tiny nod no.
the breaths were the worst, I can't even describe the sound , but I know I was getting air into his lungs, but god there was so much water in his lungs. Evertime I try to sleep I hear that awful noise and I keep hearing the moms cries and her repeatedly saying I'm sorry to the other people. The man (turns out it was grandpa that found him) was so upset, he kept hitting the wall with his hands and screaming for help.
I thank god god for my training, autopilot kicked in and during the crisis I tuned out all of the distractions and just did the CPR. I can't imagine he will make it but the officers said he had a pulse and was on the ventilator at the hospital as of this afternoon, no updates since then.
I have done CPR before but at work, this was my first time outside of work and with a child. I hope to never have to do it again. I have so much respect for nurses who work with pediatrics. That was horrible.
I am so very sorry that this happened to you, but so GLAD you were there and knew exactly what you were doing. You saved his life!! So many people never get to say that. I am sending you good, healing thoughts.
Just left the hospital, they extubated him! He is breathing on his own, and making purposeful movements and cries. And he does look to be posturing some on occasion but the nurse said hopefully that will resolve as the inflammation in his brain goes down.
One eye was red and looked affected but his other eye focused on me and the doll I brought and he reached for it so obviously he is not blind in both eyes. His vitals looked beautiful, and she was moving both his arms and his legs. I do think he will have some residual damage of course but oh my god he's not like bedridden or in a coma which is just amazing
Just left the hospital, they extubated him! He is breathing on his own, and making purposeful movements and cries. And he does look to be posturing some on occasion but the nurse said hopefully that will resolve as the inflammation in his brain goes down.
One eye was red and looked affected but his other eye focused on me and the doll I brought and he reached for it so obviously he is not blind in both eyes. His vitals looked beautiful, and she was moving both his arms and his legs. I do think he will have some residual damage of course but oh my god he's not like bedridden or in a coma which is just amazing
I am so happy to see this, I keep checking this thread for updates. :)
Wow wow wow!!!!! You were awesome! I'm guessing you are in Florida? (land of retention ponds and Nemour's). I just have to say -- what a GREAT job doing CPR on a BABY when you don't even work peds and you are out of the clinical setting with no support team. Way to go!!!! Imagine if you hadn't been there.... Kudos to your hubby, too, who knew you were the one to get.
Awesome job doing great quality CPR and giving that child a chance to live! I cannot imagine doing CPR outside of work and especially on a little child!
That sounds absolutely horrendous, but thank goodness you were there to do as much as you did- at least you were able to give such high quality bystander CPR.
As a U.K. nurse, I don't know if this is feasible where you are in the U.S., but here the resuscitate officers will do debriefing sessions with individuals or teams, when there's been difficult or unpleasant arrests, is this something which is available to you? Having been at a number of unpleasant arrests myself, I've found this really helpful, just because sometimes even when you do everything right our efforts are not enough.
I really hope your neighbours child has a good outcome, well done for performing so well in what must have been an immensely stressful situation.
One eye was red and looked affected but his other eye focused on me and the doll I brought and he reached for it so obviously he is not blind in both eyes. His vitals looked beautiful, and she was moving both his arms and his legs. I do think he will have some residual damage of course but oh my god he's not like bedridden or in a coma which is just amazing
That is so good to hear. I think it would be so frightening for a young toddler to wake up and be blind, not understanding at all what is happening and why he can't see his mother and father.
I have also had to perform CPR on a toddler in a home situation. This was a fire and the baby wasn't breathing once he was rescued from the house. Auto pilot also took over for me... It was like an out of body experience. After what seemed like forever and many compressions and breaths he finally gasped for air. He stayed in the hospital for a long while but made a full recovery.
KJoRN81, RN
158 Posts
I am so very sorry that this happened to you, but so GLAD you were there and knew exactly what you were doing. You saved his life!! So many people never get to say that. I am sending you good, healing thoughts.