Heroic efforts in a situation that the ADC ED Medical Director Dr. Singer, who was a combat doctor, described as a "War Zone" type situation, doing everything possible to save both the mom and baby's life in the ADC ER in October 2023. 

A 27-week mom was brought into the ER from the county jail, seizing and unresponsive, and CPR was in progress. When the care was then turned over to our ADC team, the patient was then in the hands of our ER nurses, ER MD, RT staff, and the ADC LDRP nurses who rushed down to meet the patient with also the OB on-call (Dr. Carpio-Solis) and pediatrician on-call (Dr. Chang) who was rushed in when hearing of the patient incoming. From the time the patient arrived, the chaotic environment was purposively controlled and maintained by the leadership of the Charge Nurse in the ED in partnership with her LDRP colleagues who rushed to assist knowing if the baby were to be in distress their specialized skills would be needed.
When efforts to save the mother seemed to be unrealistic, Dr. Carpio-Solis and the ED doctor (Dr. Singer) shifted their focus on the fate of the baby and made a quick decision to save the unborn baby. With limited supplies on hand and some of the most experienced and competent nursing staff at the bedside (Pat Vela from LDRP and Wendy Campbell, Charge Nurse from the ED), the decision was made to perform an emergent perimortem C-section in the ER. The situation remained chaotic and high-stress but ended with the successful delivery of the neonate, a complicated yet successful intubation of the baby, and ROSC/ intubation being achieved on the mother, saving both lives. The bravery and resiliency of the team was mentioned in several kudos, GEM cards, emails, and touching stories from all who witnessed the event. A colleague described Wendy Campbell's nursing leadership as the reason for the success as she remained calm while navigating and leading through an event most Level 1 ERs never witness, much less a Level 4 ER in a community setting. A bystander of the situation described Pat Vela as a blessing to be working the LDRP unit that night with a very lengthy background in neonate care and was the best nurse to meet the infant upon delivery, leading to its life being saved. 

Both the mom and the baby were flown out to higher level medical centers once stabilized and are both living today due the efforts of this amazing team. The resuscitation efforts lasted numerous hours, tapped into nursing and physician skills never tested prior, and ended with an impression of caregiver compassion at the highest level. The mother and baby may never know these heroic efforts at the extent that was witnessed, but our team is lucky to know and recognize the team! 

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I want to commend Wendy Campbell for her leadership role last night during a particularly stressful emergency. A crashing 7-month pregnant lady was brought in by EMs and ended up requiring an emergent C-section at the bedside. This is not something that even the biggest level 1 ERs manage every day. Navigating the chaos and frenzy of the moment, with the additional stress of adding L&D, delivery of a live infant, and the neonatal doc intubating the infant (as well as the mom being intubated)-you could not ask for a better charge nurse. Two live patients were flown out of your ER last night. Wendy was a big reason.