Just had a conversation with my cardiac arrest patient...

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NYMedic828

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Went into arrest yesterday morning. Got ROSC onscene 49 y/o male

Had to search the entire building but once I found him he was extubated and talking. Was really nervous going to say hi with the entire family there but it felt good.

Probably the first in 30+ arrests to legitimately survive.
 
Exellent, thats what it is all about! Always great to hear about the ones that actually survive to discharge.
 
Very cool!
 
Our Base Hospital oversees five counties EMS services. Every year they hold a "Survivors Day." They contact any cardiac arrest patient that survived to discharge and invite them to come to a reception where their story is shared and they get to meet the Paramedics, Dispatchers, FD and PD involved in their prehospital treatment. The Pt gets up front with the medical directors and the Chiefs of the various services and has a chance to shake their hand and give them a little lightning bolt pin.

I attended one from the other side of the coin, for my Grandfather who had a cardiac arrest while I was still a student and was saved by four of my now colleagues. It was an absolute pleasure for me and my entire family.

I can't recommend implementing similar events enough! Great PR too!
 
NYC does the same thing. I have to put in the paperwork for the job.
 
Getting to meet them later is absolutely one of the best things you will ever experience. 3 come to my mind:

- A 19 year old college student whose long QT finally found him and tried to take him out. That was recognized at a banquet where I got to meet family. I keep in touch with him and his family, and he's engaged now.

- A 40 some year old guy who was the complete innocent victim of a violent crime. Father, husband. Shot in the chest. Got his chest cracked in the ED of a level II trauma center. Went to surgery and survived. Even went back to work. The hospital used to have a monthly trauma conference and we were part of it 6 months later; he was also. It was pretty amazing. That hospital is no longer trauma center credentialed. Too bad, because they tended to take the penetrating traumas, and as they generally ran their traumas with attendings and maybe a resident or 2, they seemed to flow pretty well.

- An elderly lady that I met because she was across the hall from my father when they were both admitted about a year after she had a medical arrest. She was still in all around poor health, and one might question how much she still had to live for, but she was still sharp and with it, and held my hands and thanked me. That was when I was 18 years old. Powerful stuff.

Keep doing this, and you will start to accrue some pretty good stories; stories that make a lot of it worth while.
 
Heres a good kicker for you guys.

Our protocol is technically once you get ROSC a 12 lead is done immediately.

The circumstances of which we got ROSC (no IV, Airway) at the time, side tracked that.

Anyone familiar with the JFK airport, it is about 2-3 miles from the nearest STEMI/Trauma center. Directly linked by a highway.

So, once I realized my partner wasn't getting the tube, and honestly the patient was breathing well with an OPA in, I told everyone lets get moving we will continue treatment on the way. (i had already est. an 18g IV cold fluids)

So I did a 12 in route, and it shows anterior wall MI. At this point, we are less than a mile from the ER (about 3 minutes after leaving scene)

My partner and I both agreed that it would be stupid to pull over to transmit our ECG to telemetry just for them to send us to the same exact hospital we were about to pull into.

So, I documented the reasoning on my PCR and we went with it.



Found out from my commanding officer today that I can not receive official credit for the save because we didn't document with medical control at any time that we had a STEMI. (which we can do more for...)

Mind you the hospital ECG 10 minutes later, showed no elevations. Figures.


I don't mind so much, because I know what happened and feel great about returning a 49 year old man to his family but im a bit bummed that because of this I won't get to attend the breakfast thing to meet him again in a few months.
 
Your commanding officer is aware that people go into cardiac arrest for other reasons than an AMI right? What does an AMI have to do with getting credit for the save? And the changes were probably because of the ischemia from the arrest.
 
Aidey said:
Your commanding officer is aware that people go into cardiac arrest for other reasons than an AMI right? What does an AMI have to do with getting credit for the save? And the changes were probably because of the ischemia from the arrest.
Click to expand...

Because if I submit the paperwork for a save to be reviewed, he said it will raise a flag on the job as to why the 12 lead wasn't transmitted.

Very disappointing, but thats how NYC does things, we are treated like garbage by our own kind.
 
NYMedic828 said:
Because if I submit the paperwork for a save to be reviewed, he said it will raise a flag on the job as to why the 12 lead wasn't transmitted.
Click to expand...

Who cares?! So they lecture you on getting a 12 lead next time. So what? Then they pat you on the back for getting a legitimate save! They aren't going to fire you for saving a life!
 
Exactly, and then you explain, as you did in your PCR, why it wasn't transmitted. I still don't understand how it would cause them to disregard the save.
 
you guys are not familiar with FDNY. The beurocracy is amazing.
 
Aidey said:
Exactly, and then you explain, as you did in your PCR, why it wasn't transmitted. I still don't understand how it would cause them to disregard the save.
Click to expand...

Because if I submit the paperwork for review, they will notice what my captain noticed when the PCR came past him.

We ruled a STEMI in it, but never made contact with telemetry.


They would say good job for the save, but then put you on restriction riding the couch for a month.

They could care less if you do your job, its when you do something wrong...
 
Had a USAF FD chief who said "It's all part of the job", so no one was put up for decorations unless he was getting rid of them, give them a little sarcastic sendoff.
Getting credit: good deal.
Conversing with your arrest patient without having to use a psychic: priceless.
 
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