This is a post I wrote a while ago, and never felt like posting, but I've finally decided that it needs to be posted and that it needs to be read.
8:57 AM- 06/20/2009
Volunteering in the ER approximately 1 hour into my shift, going to return some IV fluids back to the pharmacy, return to the ER at approximately 8:30 AM, call comes in patient in full arrest, 8:40 paramedics bring patient in on cart doing chest compressions, hospital staff takes over, no pulse, no respiration, 8:57 AM patient pronounced dead. 8:58 AM another patient brought in, life goes on.
This was the first death I witnessed in person, the patient was fairly young less than 50 years of age. It goes to show how short life is, there is no time to waste. In the 20 minutes that I had contact with them I learned more about life than I have in my 18 years.
Life is short.
Life brings the unexpected.
Life goes on.
Health professionals have the right view on life and death, people die, that's the end of the story.
Make the most of life while you still can. I guess standing inches away from a person, and seeing them pass away, can teach you more about life than this note may, or that anyone or anything else possibly can. Circulation stops, the body starts going pale, the eyes didn't close, there was an eerie sense of calm on the deceased face, they looked like they were just laying there, as if sleeping, but one felt something was wrong. My whole shift I kept looking at the room, another patient was eventually moved in there, and the body was moved to the trauma bay, but when I saw the new patient, I could see the deceased laying there. The way the ER handled itself was calm and peaceful, yet one could tell there was something on everyone's mind. The calmness, and almost passiveness over the passing of this patient, seemed like the ER staff's way of mourning the loss, by continuing their jobs and their day and saving lives. Talking to the staff they all said, it doesn't get any easier, but over time one learns that you can't do anything about it, it is best to move on quickly, because life will go on, there will be other patients, and for every patient you lose remember how many lives you've saved. I remember the exact conversation leading to the patient being pronounced dead; Doctor: How long have we been doing compressions?
Nurse: About 15 minutes, and the paramedics were for about 30.
Doctor: So about 45 minutes?
Nurse: That's right should I administer the 5th dose of EPI?
Doctor: I think we have to call it, what time is it, 8:57 AM. There's nothing we can do. The greatest lesson that I have taken from this experience is that life will continue to go on, and if you hold back you will realize how short life is, so don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today. Signing off, Mohammad
Life brings the unexpected.
Life goes on.
Health professionals have the right view on life and death, people die, that's the end of the story.
Make the most of life while you still can. I guess standing inches away from a person, and seeing them pass away, can teach you more about life than this note may, or that anyone or anything else possibly can. Circulation stops, the body starts going pale, the eyes didn't close, there was an eerie sense of calm on the deceased face, they looked like they were just laying there, as if sleeping, but one felt something was wrong. My whole shift I kept looking at the room, another patient was eventually moved in there, and the body was moved to the trauma bay, but when I saw the new patient, I could see the deceased laying there. The way the ER handled itself was calm and peaceful, yet one could tell there was something on everyone's mind. The calmness, and almost passiveness over the passing of this patient, seemed like the ER staff's way of mourning the loss, by continuing their jobs and their day and saving lives. Talking to the staff they all said, it doesn't get any easier, but over time one learns that you can't do anything about it, it is best to move on quickly, because life will go on, there will be other patients, and for every patient you lose remember how many lives you've saved. I remember the exact conversation leading to the patient being pronounced dead; Doctor: How long have we been doing compressions?
Nurse: About 15 minutes, and the paramedics were for about 30.
Doctor: So about 45 minutes?
Nurse: That's right should I administer the 5th dose of EPI?
Doctor: I think we have to call it, what time is it, 8:57 AM. There's nothing we can do. The greatest lesson that I have taken from this experience is that life will continue to go on, and if you hold back you will realize how short life is, so don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today. Signing off, Mohammad
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Nice post Mohammad. Yeah, my first code when they decided to stop it was kinda just ok guys, we did the best we could for this person. There’s a few seconds of, “Damn…” A few minutes of this sucks and a few more of respect.
Then it’s off to help as much as you can with everyone else.