Sunday, April 30, 2006

Unbelievable....just unbelievable.

Well, I knew it would happen. Frankly I'm suprised it took this long, but The "Across from" incident finally made the paper....front page no less. Though my name was not used, my screw-up was mentioned, along with others. It was not unfair, as a matter of fact, I thought the 2 page article was quite objective. It broke down the incident into a timeline, and it was very obvious that three separate agencies failed, causing a significant delay in patient contact.

Here's the amazing news. He's alive! That's right, not only alive...he's in good condition and expected to recover. For those of you who know anything about emergency medicine, I don't have to tell you of the microscopically infinitesimal odds of a 40 year old man with a cardiac history surviving a sudden cardiac arrest, that far removed from advanced life support, with nothing to sustain him but CPR for 20 minutes. The fact that the Medic found a shockable rhythm after that long with no ALS meds administered is, in itself, amazing. The fact that the first shock worked is more amazing still. The fact that CPR was able to keep enough oxygenated bloodflow to his brain so that he will likely suffer no permanent brain damage is unbelievable. God saved this man...no doubt, but the hero he used was a family friend and local OR nurse who did perfect CPR for 20 minutes with no assistance.

This miracle has not only saved this man's life but probably my job as well. God is great!