Delia, Susan, and Takesha,
Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for being so attentive and taking such good care of M. It meant the world to us and because of your work, I get to take him home today. I will NEVER forget what you did for us!!!!
***
I want to share a little of the story as a background for the above. The patient was post-tonsillectomy, septoplasty, and submucous resection of the turbinates from the day before. He developed a primary post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage during the night and had to return to surgery. He had been coughing up bright red blood and has a history of sleep apnea and I am quite sure that all of this not only terrified him but also his wife. When the 4th floor surgical staff placed the patient in the wheelchair to be transported to the OR to fix the hemorrhage in the middle of the night, the patient's head went backward, his eyes rolled back in his head and he became unresponsive. The 4th floor team called a rapid response, as they are supposed to do. As the team arrived, the three above nurses from that floor where already in place and the charge nurse performed a sternal rub. I am positive the wife was terrified as all of this unfolded in front of her eyes. However, with the quick response of the floor nurses and a good old sternal rub, the patient began to spit up more blood and became responsive again. The patient went on to surgery and did well and was discharged the next day. Even though this could have been a great deal worse and included an aspiration pneumonia if the team had not stepped in and done what they did, it shows that the quick thinking of a well managed and organized team working together can make changes in a patient's life in just an instance. I am sure to the wife and to the patient, in this case, they are truly life-saving angels. That is what really matters.