For All the Marbles

60Gunner

[60Gunner]

ER Nursing stories ping.

[dandelion]

What an excellent story! Good Job!!

[america-rules]

Was this because of the lack of Magnesium or the heart blockage ?

[Lancey Howard]

Thanks for the post. Interesting.

[60Gunner]

Was this because of the lack of Magnesium or the heart blockage ?

You know, I am really not certain. She was not my patient; another person was acting as primary nurse. I was just helping out. I honestly have not thought to ask him what the patient's CMP (comprehensive metabolic panel for the layperson) studies looked like.

[jdm]

Good post and good story. It's a good thing to treat shock appropriately ASAP. My body went into shock for 14 hours straight back in '94 and I haven't felt the same since.

The best book I have come across on trauma is called Waking the Tiger by author Peter Levine. I only started feeling better physiologically after reading it. I recommend it highly and it's unfortunately not an incredibly well-known text.

We sometimes forget that the body always remembers on a cellular level. Every physiological experience is recorded. If you experience something shocking enough, and it's not treated almost immediately, your body may ache and hurt indefinitely.

PTSD isn't even close to being well-understood by the medical community, let alone the layman, at this point in time.

Thanks again for the excellent post.

[SoldierMedic]

That's a crazy EKG. I cannot even see the QRS pattern. Still, I'd rather see cariac temponade.

[60Gunner]

Thank you, JDM, for your insight. I have not heard of this book, but I will certainly check it out.

[SoldierMedic]

Cardiac Temponade

[Jedidah]

Thank you for sharing this with us. You write very well.

[MoochPooch]

Excellent, riveting post.

[60Gunner]

See, I thought the same thing. And your are right. It tik a few seconds for the patient's heart to "shake off" the effects of the shock that was delivered. But she settled into normal sinus rhythm after the strip ran out. The rhythm is funky, but she was perfusing. And that is the name of the game, isn't it?

BTW- thank you so much for your service. God bless you.

[SoldierMedic]

I should say thank you for your service. Truth be told, unitl I was ten I wanted nothing more than to be an M-60 Gunner in a Huey, and I was so crushed when I found out the Army didn't really use those anymore. Medic is still a great alternative.

[60Gunner]

If I would have it to do all over again, I would have chosen to be a medic. I can tell you from experience that is much more gratifying to put people back together than it is to take them apart.

Medics rock!

[carumba]

"Every human being who comes through the door is having a heart attack until proven otherwise."


The one they told me was, "Above the diaphram-get an electrocardiogram."

[ABG(anybody but Gore)]

Interesting read for a former 11B and current epileptic. Thank you for putting things in layman's terms, otherwise, I'd have been totally lost. ;^)

[60Gunner]

The one they told me was, "Above the diaphram-get an electrocardiogram."

This is a good mnemonic, but not always true. I had an MI patient whose only presentation was bilateral elbow pain.

The wierd ones happen just often enough to keep us on our toes.

[60Gunner]

Thank you for putting things in layman's terms, otherwise, I'd have been totally lost.

That's the main idea behind my posts. I want to make sure that the layman understands what goes on in the ER. It isn't Hollywood.

[ABG(anybody but Gore)]

Having been to a couple of ER's in the last 2-3 years for grand mal seizures, I've seen a lot of what you go through, but all the same, I hate the experience. Nothing personal, but I don't like hospitals.