April 9, 2012
-
Rough night
I think I have a contender for one of my roughest shifts ever.
1. Emergent Priority 1 with a patient who inhaled toxic gas… subsequently needing and open trach in the ER (rough start)
2. Emergent Priority 1 with COPD & crashing
3. Emergent Priority 1 with heart rate in the low 20′s
4. Emergent Priority 1 baby in cardiopulmonary arrest who subsequently died.
I could give more details, but look again at #4 up there and ask yourself if you really need/want them. This pretty much took the wind out of my sails. When something like that happens, everyone in the ER collapses a bit mentally. Then, after trying to comprehend that, I get to relive it by telling the parents that their little baby died. I’m sure there’s worse things to do than this, but off the top of my head I can’t think of a single one.
It has been a little bit since this happened, yet I can still (quite clearly) see the child’s mother rocking her dead child back and fourth, over and over in my mind. There definitely was nothing I could have done to save the baby. It doesn’t matter.
Ever had a day at work that made you rethink what you do for a living?
Comments (5)
Heartbreaking. But where would we be without ER doctors? You have one of the most significant jobs I can think of.
My job sometimes makes me rethink what I do, but in a very different way. No as in “its too tough” but as in “I should be doing something more than this.”
It is for reason 4 right up there that I could never work in the ER. There is nothing more tragic than a life being deprived before it even starts… And yet so many women do it willingly every single day… Give up what this woman likely wanted more than anything in the world.
Hang in there… I know you must have thick skin, soft hands, and a caring heart to do what you do… But It’s not lawyers, actors, or baseball players that restore my faith in humanity.
Wow. I don’t think I could do it. Thank you for having a heart and doing what you do at the same time.
@RockOfEadie - soft hands? Thank you?
Lemme know when you wanna play some SC2 
@slicy - hey… forgot
I actually play almost every single night… my screen name is RockOfEadie (turns out I’m just as creative as you) and my friend code is 922