Sofie Aguirre exemplified what it truly means to be a selfless nurse when she untiringly cared for a patient in our Emergency Department who was a potential danger to public health due to concerns about hazardous material gas emissions. This patient walked into the ED, complaining of burns to his face/head, arms, neck, and torso, stating he was “filling up a pressure washer with igniter fluid, and it blew up on him.” The Police Department later arrived in our ED looking for a patient who matched this patient’s description, and it was eventually realized that this patient was actually working in a PCP Lab that blew up (earlier) that morning and could possibly be emitting hazardous gases, i.e., cyanide from his skin/burns.

Sofie went above and beyond caring for this patient, providing critical care and emergency care nursing, remaining in the potential “hot spot” room, knowing that her health may be on the line, and even providing the intubated patient a decontamination shower in our cold ambulance bay to properly decontaminate this patient. She worked at the bedside with this critically ill intubated patient for several hours, providing excellent, compassionate care, and not once did she utter any complaints or ask to be switched out by a colleague.