Indian Guy
They had given us box lunches so I ate mine at the nursing station in between patients. Our first was a forty three year old Indian man complaining of chest pain. His EKG was all but non diagnostic but his symptoms were dramatically similar to an ST elevation MI. The doc and I stood there and puzzled over his EKG, me saying. "Looks fine but look at him." Her saying. "Where are the elevations, his presentation mirrors a STEMI."
Amed, the man sits up on th bed, clearly uncomfortable. "My wife will need to know." He says in perfectly Oxford clipped English. "May I please use my celluar telephone to ring her about this development?"
"Yeah, go ahead." I tell him as I'm slapping two sets of monitor leads on him. The room monitor to record all of the goings on in his heart and a Lifepack 12 for the inevitable trip to the cath lab.
"Ganesh? Hello darling, its me. Yes I know its odd of me to call you at this hour, but I have to let you know something. I needed to call an ambulance at work because of chest pains. They drove me to St. Vincent's Hospital in Worcester. I'm not sure, please hold my dear." He looks up at me. "Sir are we across from the Centrum?"
I shake my head. "Nah, DCU center. Tell her exit 16 off of 290, its got a sign."
"The gentleman says we are across from the DCU Center. Exit 16 off of 290 he has told me."
The doctor had been on the phone with the cath lab and she whilred around. "Let's get him upstairs."
"Darling, I must be going. Yes, I am quite sure I will not be home for dinner. Okay, I would like that but please drive carefully. I love you too."
The elevator ride upstairs is uneventful. He sits calmly asking questions about the procedure and how long recovery will be. Can we give him a note for work? Will he need specialized recovery classes? When can he see his wife?
Once in the Cath Lab suite we roll through the recovery room. The nurse at the foot of the bed looks up into the office and then back at the patient. "Sir how do you feel?" She asks.
I glance monitor as I hear him say. "I am not feeling so very we...." His EKG rthym collapses into asystole. Muttering an obscenity I push him the bed into the cath lab in order to give us more room to work. A nurse starts compressions while I cut off his pants with my trauma shears.
The man's whole body lurches, his hands grabbing the wrists of the nurse doing compressions.
"Who shocked him?" She's pissed.
"No one, theres no pads on him."
"Felt like he was shocked, does he have an eternal defib?"
"No." He is shaking and the monitor shows a sinus brady with a weird complex.
"What happened please?" Small and childlike his voice shows his fear.
"Just relax, let them do their thing. Good luck, bro." I tell him as I hustle our stuff out of the room in order to give them space for the procedure.
Two hours later a phone call from the cath lab tells us that the catherization was totally clean, no clots to be found.
Amed, the man sits up on th bed, clearly uncomfortable. "My wife will need to know." He says in perfectly Oxford clipped English. "May I please use my celluar telephone to ring her about this development?"
"Yeah, go ahead." I tell him as I'm slapping two sets of monitor leads on him. The room monitor to record all of the goings on in his heart and a Lifepack 12 for the inevitable trip to the cath lab.
"Ganesh? Hello darling, its me. Yes I know its odd of me to call you at this hour, but I have to let you know something. I needed to call an ambulance at work because of chest pains. They drove me to St. Vincent's Hospital in Worcester. I'm not sure, please hold my dear." He looks up at me. "Sir are we across from the Centrum?"
I shake my head. "Nah, DCU center. Tell her exit 16 off of 290, its got a sign."
"The gentleman says we are across from the DCU Center. Exit 16 off of 290 he has told me."
The doctor had been on the phone with the cath lab and she whilred around. "Let's get him upstairs."
"Darling, I must be going. Yes, I am quite sure I will not be home for dinner. Okay, I would like that but please drive carefully. I love you too."
The elevator ride upstairs is uneventful. He sits calmly asking questions about the procedure and how long recovery will be. Can we give him a note for work? Will he need specialized recovery classes? When can he see his wife?
Once in the Cath Lab suite we roll through the recovery room. The nurse at the foot of the bed looks up into the office and then back at the patient. "Sir how do you feel?" She asks.
I glance monitor as I hear him say. "I am not feeling so very we...." His EKG rthym collapses into asystole. Muttering an obscenity I push him the bed into the cath lab in order to give us more room to work. A nurse starts compressions while I cut off his pants with my trauma shears.
The man's whole body lurches, his hands grabbing the wrists of the nurse doing compressions.
"Who shocked him?" She's pissed.
"No one, theres no pads on him."
"Felt like he was shocked, does he have an eternal defib?"
"No." He is shaking and the monitor shows a sinus brady with a weird complex.
"What happened please?" Small and childlike his voice shows his fear.
"Just relax, let them do their thing. Good luck, bro." I tell him as I hustle our stuff out of the room in order to give them space for the procedure.
Two hours later a phone call from the cath lab tells us that the catherization was totally clean, no clots to be found.
posted by Nick Stabile at 4:17 PM
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