tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4489565303994499222.post6870170153792764555..comments2023-10-30T08:23:36.678+00:00Comments on Trying My Patients: Death Becomes HerElla Shawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15379522083602755280noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4489565303994499222.post-75721495822313890992013-03-01T01:14:45.854+00:002013-03-01T01:14:45.854+00:00My ex-wife suffered a pulmonary embolism a few yea...My ex-wife suffered a pulmonary embolism a few years ago, and went from "I feel a little off" to flatlining in under 45 minutes; five minutes after the ambulance arrived, she passed away while the EMTs were doing their best to save her.<br /><br />My heart goes out to you and your crew -- indeed, to all medical personnel and emergency responders -- when you have to deal with situations like this. I know you were doing your best, but I can understand how phrases like that are often cold comforts.Mr. Misanthropehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07934261192173993819noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4489565303994499222.post-35827055591105429532013-02-03T22:10:03.788+00:002013-02-03T22:10:03.788+00:00I had a very similar job a few years ago and I wil...I had a very similar job a few years ago and I will never, ever forget it. This young woman went from gcs 15 to 3 within two minutes, tragically in the back of the ambulance in front of her mum. This may sound harsh to people outside the job but I have been to many patients in cardiac arrest over the years; and although I have tried my best at the time and felt sad for the family, because I didn't meet the patient when they were alive, its easier to be distanced from it all. But when this girl went from speaking to me to hypoxic to resp arrest to cardiac arrest, I had a proper cry at the hospital. And seeing her poor mum with her was utterly heart breaking. The young lady died of a p.e, she was in the paper a few months later after the Coroner wanted the side effects of taking the Pill to be published. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4489565303994499222.post-26791042117061485372013-02-03T13:08:05.103+00:002013-02-03T13:08:05.103+00:00Oh thats always a shame :((Oh thats always a shame :((Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4489565303994499222.post-19961396764655778062013-02-02T23:03:11.018+00:002013-02-02T23:03:11.018+00:00I cannot begin to understand what you went through...I cannot begin to understand what you went through fully - I am not a professional just joe public who does not panic and faint at the site of blood and can do a bit of first aid.<br /><br />I would ask from this story though if there is any way of asking for cases like this to be flagged for information to be given back to the ambulance crew both to help with the crews mind worries and to cover any "could ofs" for the future. I know lots of others here are saying about aneurysms which of course you can do nothing about but I am sure you would feel better just knowing - having A&E or possibly the pathologist/coroner - give you the report. Not for every case just for ones like this where even after a long time it still weighs on you. sphinxhttp://www.adifferentopinion.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4489565303994499222.post-57166707062592543202013-02-02T10:51:14.820+00:002013-02-02T10:51:14.820+00:00This is a truly tragic case. Like you say when you...This is a truly tragic case. Like you say when you have been talking to the patient and built up a relationship, no matter how tenuous, and then they die its hard to take, especially for no discernible reason. I know it probably wont happen for all the reasons we understand but if you could find out the result of the PM perhaps we could all learn from it. Hope you and your crew mate are ok.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09427856177938305088noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4489565303994499222.post-35486014727507732392013-02-02T09:05:18.358+00:002013-02-02T09:05:18.358+00:00I've had several go on me as you describe. I r...I've had several go on me as you describe. I remember doing a gp admission for a ? Dissecting aaa. The guy was poorly but stable. No sooner had he got in the back, he went off on us. The bad thing was, unknown to me, my crewmate had said to his wife she could come with us. She went inside to get her bag, I climbed in to the cab before he died, saw her looking out the frontroom window, waved (thinking she was making het own way to hospital) and drove off. She never saw her husband alive again.max d'frostnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4489565303994499222.post-87252195981279803452013-02-02T08:57:41.890+00:002013-02-02T08:57:41.890+00:00Hi Ella, I don't mean this in a good way but t...Hi Ella, I don't mean this in a good way but that millisecond someone goes infront of you and I'm on about that instant life stops, it's fascinating because the eyes change to lifeless 'glass' eyes. I don't know what leaves them - not being religious I don't want to say their soul but that is the closest I can get to. Something goes and you know that pt has diedmax d'frostnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4489565303994499222.post-26940671979432432622013-02-02T08:28:35.361+00:002013-02-02T08:28:35.361+00:00Blimey, sorry to hear all that xBlimey, sorry to hear all that xElla Shawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15379522083602755280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4489565303994499222.post-36770613786919202052013-02-02T08:27:59.783+00:002013-02-02T08:27:59.783+00:00Thank you :)Thank you :)Ella Shawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15379522083602755280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4489565303994499222.post-65704615270239324992013-02-02T08:27:43.161+00:002013-02-02T08:27:43.161+00:00Blimey, sounds horrible, you guys do a fantastic j...Blimey, sounds horrible, you guys do a fantastic job xElla Shawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15379522083602755280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4489565303994499222.post-74952945287651403892013-02-02T08:27:02.808+00:002013-02-02T08:27:02.808+00:00Thats what I was thinking but no symptoms really.Thats what I was thinking but no symptoms really.Ella Shawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15379522083602755280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4489565303994499222.post-48289970195347155882013-02-02T08:26:09.248+00:002013-02-02T08:26:09.248+00:00I know, cant help but second guess in these situat...I know, cant help but second guess in these situations though.Ella Shawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15379522083602755280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4489565303994499222.post-7745408252528501002013-02-02T08:25:17.947+00:002013-02-02T08:25:17.947+00:00Very true! Not the best at all!Very true! Not the best at all!Ella Shawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15379522083602755280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4489565303994499222.post-44589209360260313572013-02-02T08:24:55.029+00:002013-02-02T08:24:55.029+00:00Thats what i was thinking. That or PEThats what i was thinking. That or PEElla Shawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15379522083602755280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4489565303994499222.post-6291119960580999602013-02-02T08:24:28.881+00:002013-02-02T08:24:28.881+00:00Afraid this was a long while ago and we never get ...Afraid this was a long while ago and we never get to find out :(Ella Shawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15379522083602755280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4489565303994499222.post-58313813083635890992013-02-02T08:23:57.446+00:002013-02-02T08:23:57.446+00:00They do indeed!They do indeed!Ella Shawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15379522083602755280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4489565303994499222.post-6992687383734692442013-02-02T06:13:37.914+00:002013-02-02T06:13:37.914+00:00Actually my father went like that but wasn't e...Actually my father went like that but wasn't even in the ambulance. He was 39. My brother made it to the hospital and was rushed to surgery for an aortic dissection. He was 27 and died 36 hours later because they couldn't fully repair it. Then my youngest child at his 9 month checkup had a murmur.(Believe me with our history i was freaking out.) We were sent to the cardiologist and informed that he had a bicuspid aortic valve. He has to be checked every year for the rest of his life. Also, my granfather did the same thing as my father at the local small town hospital 6 months after my father. The doctors believe we have 2 different genetic conditions affecting the main aorta that runs on the male side. I have been through too much in such a short time & basically any male on my fathers side could drop and be gone in a second, including both my sons. I too believe when it's your time to go then you go. So take comfort in knowing you did what you could nd it was apparently her time.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4489565303994499222.post-91034500591760839182013-02-01T22:51:10.922+00:002013-02-01T22:51:10.922+00:00Oh wow! That must really shock you especially if t...Oh wow! That must really shock you especially if there was no obvious cause for you to be able to understand wht had happened and why you couldn't save her. I hope that someone has been able to tell you to help you come to terms with it. Frankly though I must say that I'm disgusted that Ambulance control don't have the vehicles and staff (and thus funding) to allow you and your crewmate some time to 'decompress' after having a patient die on you.<br /><br />However, keep up the brilliant work!Gondtengwenhttps://twitter.com/Gondtengwennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4489565303994499222.post-68514817008679532442013-02-01T18:56:49.628+00:002013-02-01T18:56:49.628+00:00I can sort of relate (at least to the feeling of b...I can sort of relate (at least to the feeling of being helpless and not knowing what happened / the outcome was). I have all kinds of stories from my days as a 911 dispatcher, but there was one call that really stuck with me.<br /><br />I was on the "overflow" position that day, so I could have gotten a call from EMS / Fire / or any of the 4 police zones. It was quite the busy day! Toward the end of the shift it had slowed down a lot, and I hadn't gotten a single call for the past 40 minutes or so. So I was sitting there doing some sudoku puzzles, and I'm not sure exactly what it was that caught my attention, but I overheard a call from EMS that sounded confusing. (The details around the call are fuzzy, but the call is not). Shortly after I was asked to log into the call to update the officers that were responding too. I'd never heard / been around anyone that was dying before. Me and some friends had found a dead body once when I was still a teen, and I'd taken calls where bodies were found, but no one actually dying.<br /><br />Apparently this woman had shot herself in the abdomen and wanted to "go home to be with her father" (who had also apparently died earlier that year). I remember hearing her talk about how cold she was, how thirsty she was in the background (her fiance was on the phone). There was something in her voice that just chilled right to the bone. That was the last call I took place in that night, and to this day I have no idea whether she made it or not.<br /><br />Not the same I know, but I kind of understand. While I understand it must be frustrating wondering if you missed something, there are just some things where no matter what you do, there is nothing that can be done at that time. The most important thing in my opinion, is that you ARE wondering if there was something you missed, because that means you care. Drain Bramage and Bluffy Funnieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15640273922233923751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4489565303994499222.post-21436972875839654772013-02-01T18:11:56.614+00:002013-02-01T18:11:56.614+00:00That kind of sounds like a P.E. but there's no...That kind of sounds like a P.E. but there's no way to scan for that in the field that I know of. acpaulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13525784835577568805noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4489565303994499222.post-81867850519500094752013-02-01T18:03:34.631+00:002013-02-01T18:03:34.631+00:00Despite everything we do, and doing everything ...Despite everything we do, and doing everything 'right', sometimes people just die. It happens...and nothing you could've done was going to change it. Richnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4489565303994499222.post-8841750828871640152013-02-01T16:52:51.263+00:002013-02-01T16:52:51.263+00:00Had the same type of thing happen to a guy we pick...Had the same type of thing happen to a guy we picked up. Nothing we could do he just went on us on the journey to A&E. The suspicion was that it was a PE but, as with all to many of our jobs, we never did find out. Not right to have the ceiling of an ambulance as the last thing you see but...!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4489565303994499222.post-1430437151567701632013-02-01T13:57:05.060+00:002013-02-01T13:57:05.060+00:00Saw something very similar with a AAA that went po...Saw something very similar with a AAA that went pop. Being the last person to have a conversation with someone is a strange privilege. <br /><br />RIP. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4489565303994499222.post-68300997044436634922013-02-01T11:30:01.873+00:002013-02-01T11:30:01.873+00:00ugh hate this when it happens, also that sometimes...ugh hate this when it happens, also that sometimes you never get to find out either to help with the battle in your head, did I miss something? Could I of done anything.<br />I always think considering our very basic medical diagnostic equipment we do very well with what we are sometimes presented with.<br /><br />Will you let us know what happened to the poor lady.<br /><br />And may she RIP xAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4489565303994499222.post-68487302484502769662013-02-01T10:43:17.050+00:002013-02-01T10:43:17.050+00:00Sad story, reminds me of one of my jobs except min...Sad story, reminds me of one of my jobs except mine was in her 40's and c/o chest pains. Everything was normal until she said she felt 'a bit odd' and went straight to asystole. Some jobs stay with you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com