Dying In The ICU

Believe it or not it is all related.........-_-
 
You are often called upon to participate in the transition that is death.

In part, because nobody else wants to.

It's one of the most sacred things there are, for everyone -- even you -- must go through it.

You can do good work AND be aware that you're in the middle of the most intimate moment there is. You can honor it even as you battle against its happening.

Because, you see, what you're doing is standing firm WITH your patient as he or she decides if it's time. (And you know how strange it is that some survive regardless.)

In that case, your job is very clear. Your role is to do your job as best you can, and then, in the silence that follows the passage, love that miraculous expression of life as it moves on.
 
One of the hardest part of working in ICU is that death has a totally different perception than we are usually accustomed to. One of my best maturing points as a professional was working in a unit during the nighttime shift. Usually it is much more quiet except the bongs and beeps of the machinery, and the lights were lowered giving an ominous look. The staff learned to depend upon each other more than usual.

Our usual perception in EMS is of course is to fight death. Even in the emergency department we usually see acute cases or the opposite dealing with end stage diseases; where the family is still hoping for an immediate cure or glimmer of change to occur. A much different arena and perception.

Working in the unit, I grew to realize that our mission was to try to prevent needless deaths from occurring... that itself and interpretation was usually really NOT up to us (humans). As well, there are illnesses and disease processes that actually overcome and attack the body so bad that death could be nothing more than a relief. Not emphasizing we still did not attempt to prevent or provide comfort during those times, but also develop an understanding that ironically that even there is SO much medicine (hearing the vents, beeps, bongs, pumps) that death is still stronger. No matter what we do, no matter how many tubes, machinery we attach, or how much we study, invent & research. We may change an area only to see another disease pop up. We really never win.. and develop an understanding that's okay. We are not supposed to. We are just here to do the best we can .. when and while we can.

R/r 911
 
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