Emily Satterfield
November 2023
Emily
Satterfield
,
ADN
Emergency Department
Marshall Medical Center North
Guntersville
,
AL
United States
Emily remained with the patient for approximately 2 hours allowing her to pace/vent/scream and go through the emotions.
We received patients from a multi-car MVC. Emily initially had one of the patients and I believe his wife has sent you an email about Emily’s interaction with their son.
In addition to this patient, the ED was receiving calls from family asking for a person that we did not have registered. This family came to the ED as they had tracked his phone here. Unfortunately, the officer in possession of the phone had not placed it in a non-tracking box and their family member had been a fatality on the scene and was not transported here.
During this time, Brittany was trying to manage this situation and help them get information. After the family was notified by the coroner’s office, the 16-year-old daughter of the deceased had an extreme grief/anxiety reaction. She was absolutely distraught and could not understand why his phone was here and he was not. She would only scream for her father. Her mother signed her in for anxiety but she would not listen to her mother or family and refused all care.
B and Emily took this patient into a private area allowing her to go through the grief process. B left Emily with her so she could come out and talk to others about the situation and tried to find a grief counselor. B stated that Emily remained with the patient for approximately 2 hours allowing her to pace/vent/scream and go through the emotions. Emily worked through feedback and other techniques to help her calm/cope. B said Emily did an awesome job and they were able to get her to accept medication to rest and talk to the coroner’s on-call chaplain.
Dr. P also sent me a message about how well B handled this situation. Although we often deal with delivering traumatic news to family members, this situation was very different since the deceased was not here to allow the family time for closure or questions. We could not say, “We did all we could,” or provide any insight into the death.
Both Emily and B truly showed extraordinary compassion and skill to help this child and family through what is possibly the worst moment of this child’s life.
In addition to this patient, the ED was receiving calls from family asking for a person that we did not have registered. This family came to the ED as they had tracked his phone here. Unfortunately, the officer in possession of the phone had not placed it in a non-tracking box and their family member had been a fatality on the scene and was not transported here.
During this time, Brittany was trying to manage this situation and help them get information. After the family was notified by the coroner’s office, the 16-year-old daughter of the deceased had an extreme grief/anxiety reaction. She was absolutely distraught and could not understand why his phone was here and he was not. She would only scream for her father. Her mother signed her in for anxiety but she would not listen to her mother or family and refused all care.
B and Emily took this patient into a private area allowing her to go through the grief process. B left Emily with her so she could come out and talk to others about the situation and tried to find a grief counselor. B stated that Emily remained with the patient for approximately 2 hours allowing her to pace/vent/scream and go through the emotions. Emily worked through feedback and other techniques to help her calm/cope. B said Emily did an awesome job and they were able to get her to accept medication to rest and talk to the coroner’s on-call chaplain.
Dr. P also sent me a message about how well B handled this situation. Although we often deal with delivering traumatic news to family members, this situation was very different since the deceased was not here to allow the family time for closure or questions. We could not say, “We did all we could,” or provide any insight into the death.
Both Emily and B truly showed extraordinary compassion and skill to help this child and family through what is possibly the worst moment of this child’s life.