Recently, a patient arrived to the Adult Emergency Department from the prison hospital. This patient had experienced respiratory distress prior to transport that resulted in respiratory failure in route to the AED. He was intubated prior to arrival to the AED. On arrival to the AED, the patient was placed in the resus area and attempts for stabilization began. While in the AED this man continued to decline, and had to be resuscitated twice. The AED staff felt sure this man would not survive the night and were concerned that no friends or family would be notified or have the opportunity to be with him or to say goodbye. The AED staff contacted the patient's brother who was his Health Care Surrogate, but due to current laws, they were informed by the prison guard that the patient's brother would not be allowed to visit the patient until a series of paperwork and background checks were completed. Staff was told that it would take too long to have the proper documentation filed prior to the patient's expected impending death.
The team felt that it was not right for this patient to die alone, without his family. Kaila Gilbert and Magen MacLeod took the challenge of calling the prison to see what had to be done to get the approval for his brother to be by his side and have the opportunity to say goodbye. As a team, they contacted the appropriate personnel at the prison and were able to get all the paperwork rapidly processed. The patient's brother was granted permission to visit.
That afternoon, the patient was transferred to MICU. His brother, who drove from St. Augustine, visited the patient. He was able to fulfill his brother's pre-stated wishes to withdraw care.
The value, no person dies alone, was embraced and lived out by the ED staff this day. The caring attitude of Magen and Kaila provided an opportunity for a dying man to have the presence of his family, and a family the opportunity to say goodbye. They believed in the importance of compassionate action even when the odds of success were stacked against them. Thank you, Kaila and Magen, for your compassion for this dying man in his final hours.