What is the lowest HGB you have seen?

[I<3H2O]

What is the lowest HGB you have seen on a pt. that is still alert, talking, upright, who exhibits no active bleeding?

LOL we had a little old lady present to the ER with "weakness" and her HGB was 3.2! I've not seen one that low before.

[RheatherN, ASN, RN, EMT-P]

post hyst; blo; appy.. started at 10, next am down to 3, d/t religion wouldnt not accept any blood product or replacement product, went home to pass on and did the next day. I understand why, but its still hard to know that happened and I can do something to help and just don't. it will always feel weird to me.

[Neuro_I_C_U_Nurse]

The lowest hemoglobin I've seen with a patient that was awake and talking is 3.2.

The lowest hemoglobin I've seen is 1.7, the patient was intubated with no BP, not even by doppler. The patient coded shortly after I received the value from the lab. I cried like a baby after that night.

[ScientistSalarian]

2-point-something (ICU patient) ... needless to say, they did not make it

[Kharma711]

2.1 in a mostly asymptomatic patient that should have passed go (stepdown) and gone to ICU... he finally decompensated an hour after he got to my unit with a map of 53 and went to ICU but I stayed over 4 hours with just this one patient and another nurse helping me to keep him alive to see the ICU... and he lived after getting lots of blood and made it back to my unit to be discharged later. It was crazy but fulfilling to see my efforts to keep him alive be rewarded!

[Cricket183, BSN, RN]

I've seen two different patients with low 3.something. Both oncology patients who would not accept blood products based on religious reasons (Jehovah's Witness). The first one accepted Epo and Iron and eventually was released, although she later passed away due to her original cancer diagnosis.

The second was very symptomatic and eventually agreed to transfusion but sadly we had to "hide" her and do the transfusion overnight in a separate room under an unpublished name. She told family, friends, & church members who were constantly at her side that she was having an emergency procedure. It was an administrative nightmare to arrange. She recovered, from the anemia and her cancer. It is one of those cases that will always stay with me.