It started as a typical day. As a circulator for my room, Lee performed the usual duties expected of an operating room nurse. Helping to prepare the patient for anesthesia and being readily available at the bedside during extubation and emergence from anesthesia, Lee was diligent and friendly. He struck me as someone who is a team player and is easy to communicate with, and as an anesthesiologist, I appreciated his demeanor in the face of potentially stressful moments. Little did I realize one of those moments was about to happen. At the end of a minor procedure, my infant patient began to laryngospasm shortly after extubation. Saturations fell like a rock. He asked if I needed additional help, to which I responded, "I'm good." Usually, laryngospasm is manageable and the saturations recover. When the sats did not recover, hovering around 23% for what seemed like an eternity, Lee took action; he refused to take any chances. Respectfully, he announced that he would call an anesthesia STAT and grabbed a stick of succinylcholine from the top of my anesthesia cart. He was ready at the bedside, awaiting further instruction.

When I realized I would not be able to break the laryngospasm without medication, I asked him to administer a dose of succinylcholine. The laryngospasm broke, the saturations recovered, and while additional help arrived, it was luckily not necessary. I am grateful to have someone like Lee who was respectful but took the initiative to respond in the face of imminent danger. He was available, and I am grateful because the patient was able to leave the operating room alive because of him. Not everyone takes it upon themselves to be so proactive. I cannot emphasize how much of an impact this made on me. Lee is a shining example of someone who took ownership of his patient's well-being. Today, my patient had another guardian angel. We would all be so fortunate to have guardian angels like Lee during the most critical moments, and I strongly feel that he should be recognized for his heroic efforts.