Hey all, wanted to share a story from work that happened earlier this week.
I work in a pain management practice. We have two ORs for doing epidurals, rhizotomies etc etc. I'm one of the techs, the other guy runs the other room. So earlier this week I got to work a bit earlier then the other tech, so I helped set up his room after mine was done. this includes turning on the fluoro machine, unlocking cabinets, etc. etc. In his room (the main OR) there is an anesthesia cart that has all the anesthetics, but also some emergency drugs. We unlock the cart every morning (it is locked overnight for security reasons). I've only gotten to work earlier enough than homeboy to open his room a couple of times since I started working here a few months ago, and I forgot to unlock the ans. cart.
Fast forward two hours. the pt. in my room is sitting up after a cervical epidural. the doctor is just leaving the room when the pt. complains of dizziness. I have him lie down and take a blood pressure. 77/40 with a hr of 38. oh ****! I get him oxygen and at this point the doctor is attending to him. Needless to say, the alarm is sounded, the nurses run in and the cluster**** begins. Amidst this the doc calls for the ans. cart and the crash cart. In the end treatment of ephedrine is delayed by about 10 seconds (the key was 15 feet away) and the pt was fine (vagal response) but still I felt like a total jackass, and the doc blamed the other tech till i cleared him.
I'm leaving in 2 weeks to return to my UG to finish my degree, so I just got written up. But i'm sure if I was long-term i'd be out of a job. When we were discussing the incident in his office today, I apologized at the end of the conversation. He looked at me and said deadpan "say that to the guy's widow" and then started laughing and said he was messing with me. But it got me thinking. 10 seconds in an emergency situation is a loooooooong time. Made me realize that this kind of oversight could lead me to kill a patient if I ever make it past medical school. Definitely an eye-opener.
not sure what i'm trying to get out of this thread. Just wanted to share an experience that I hope will make me into a more careful person and one day doctor. Maybe I just want some good ol' fashion internet catharsis.
I work in a pain management practice. We have two ORs for doing epidurals, rhizotomies etc etc. I'm one of the techs, the other guy runs the other room. So earlier this week I got to work a bit earlier then the other tech, so I helped set up his room after mine was done. this includes turning on the fluoro machine, unlocking cabinets, etc. etc. In his room (the main OR) there is an anesthesia cart that has all the anesthetics, but also some emergency drugs. We unlock the cart every morning (it is locked overnight for security reasons). I've only gotten to work earlier enough than homeboy to open his room a couple of times since I started working here a few months ago, and I forgot to unlock the ans. cart.
Fast forward two hours. the pt. in my room is sitting up after a cervical epidural. the doctor is just leaving the room when the pt. complains of dizziness. I have him lie down and take a blood pressure. 77/40 with a hr of 38. oh ****! I get him oxygen and at this point the doctor is attending to him. Needless to say, the alarm is sounded, the nurses run in and the cluster**** begins. Amidst this the doc calls for the ans. cart and the crash cart. In the end treatment of ephedrine is delayed by about 10 seconds (the key was 15 feet away) and the pt was fine (vagal response) but still I felt like a total jackass, and the doc blamed the other tech till i cleared him.
I'm leaving in 2 weeks to return to my UG to finish my degree, so I just got written up. But i'm sure if I was long-term i'd be out of a job. When we were discussing the incident in his office today, I apologized at the end of the conversation. He looked at me and said deadpan "say that to the guy's widow" and then started laughing and said he was messing with me. But it got me thinking. 10 seconds in an emergency situation is a loooooooong time. Made me realize that this kind of oversight could lead me to kill a patient if I ever make it past medical school. Definitely an eye-opener.
not sure what i'm trying to get out of this thread. Just wanted to share an experience that I hope will make me into a more careful person and one day doctor. Maybe I just want some good ol' fashion internet catharsis.
