A Preventable Near Death Experience

Essay by: Keke Serene

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A Preventable near death experience when a doctor doesn't listen. Be sure to get an experienced MD for your healthcare needs is all im gonna say...

I just honestly sigh with frustration at situations like this because they happen- particularly with these new doctors and ugh. They know better. Don't listen. And the patient suffers.

We're working on a repeat offender... offending in the cath lab. A man with extensive cardiac history.

A typical Tuesday like any other day and I'm working next to the new doctor. We take a shot at the right coronary artery that feeds the right side of the heart and all the electrical stuff and I turn on the pressure.

"You're damped," I say as look at the low blood flow wave. Damped, as in, the catheter is limiting blood flow.

The doctor does- and says nothing as he turns on x-ray for another picture. I inject the dye, turn pressure back on. "Still damped," I press, as he muses how large the right is, so large, it perfuses two thirds of the heart. Usually its the left coronary that feeds two thirds of the heart.

We're still occluding blood flow. Yes, to two thirds of the heart, as he clicks the pedal for a picture again.

"Still damped," I recite as I turn pressure back on.

And sure enough, as textbook as can be, the patient's heart stops beating.

Thankfully, it quivers with ventricular fibrillation. Fixed with an easy-

"Shock him, shock him!" The doctor yells as a nurse runs in and tries doing CPR. But the patient is still conscious.

"Cough! Cough,"

"Huh? What?"

"Cough!"

The ech, ech was so pathetic I laugh about it now like, bro thats not gonna save your life. We ask patients for a hard cough as sometimes the pressure of the sternum against the heart can act as CPR in a way and jumpstart a normal electrical rhythm.

We wait until he passes out before shocking him with with the paddles- the guy was too round to get the shoulder pad on him quickly enough. Thankfully a normal heart rhythm is restored and of course the doctor is in a tizz because why aren't all patient put on pads?

Well. Why are doctors occluding blood flow for two minutes to two thirds of the heart?

Like you can easily disengage the catheter between shots... but nope.

Thankfulky the patient didn't remember anything, but he had burn marks from the paddle. That this situation was totally preventable is the most frustrating thing, but I've learned that I can't blame myself for the doctor's mistakes when I've done my best to provide them with valuable, life saving information.

Submitted: December 25, 2020

Health and Fitness death heart catheter arrthymia

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Christy Writes

I don't even work in the field but I've heard enough stories about doctors doing whatever they felt like and screwing patients over. Some doctors are just textbooks with no common sense, and them being stubborn will only make matters worse.

Sat, December 26th, 2020 11:09am

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What sucks is they know better! They just don't listen and the pt suffers. :/

Sat, January 2nd, 2021 1:39pm

Jeff Bezaire

One irregularity that cannot be removed from any doctor's brain, no matter how talented the surgeon, is the god complex - they will do what they want and believe what they want, because it's them and them alone who saves lives. But when there's a death or a mishap, it's the fault of the nurses, technicians, and anyone else nearby.
You can't blame yourself for their mistakes. You're doing your job; it's the doctor who's failing to do his.

Tue, December 29th, 2020 4:40am

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For some reason the younger and more incompetence thet are the bigger their head is and the less they listen to the staff...who have been doing this and seen more than them! Ugh.

Sat, January 2nd, 2021 1:42pm