On the night shift, it was an extremely emotional shift for the Critical Care Team at South Miami. We found ourselves short-staffed yet caring for an extremely critically ill nurse colleague. It was such a challenging circumstance that dayshift RNs stayed into the night shift to assist, and I came in as Manager to work as this patient required to be placed on ECMO awaiting transfer to JMH. You may be wondering… how this relates to the Emergency Department and Christopher Pujols?

Christopher is the epitome of a true leader and team player. Although the ED was also very busy that night, Christopher jumped in to assist his critical care colleagues. He immediately responded to CCU and assisted in ensuring we had all the transfer paperwork completed accurately (as this is more frequently done in the ED), he jumped in and assisted in patient care and was very effective having a critical care background from Puerto Rico. Additionally, he assisted as a “runner” for Critical Care throughout the shift while still balancing the needs of the ED and supporting his team there. To add, Christopher took over the BEST responder role for the entire Hospital including inpatient stroke alerts so that the Critical Care team could focus on caring for our colleague and friend.

When thanked, Christopher stated, “We are one”. Christopher was graceful, energetic, positive, and a team player, and showed true leadership we are forever thankful for his contribution to Critical Care and the care of our patient, colleague, and friend.