At the Fort Worth Municipal building, a gathering of AED/CPR survivors. I was told 10 of them; they came with their families, and there were a lot of lay rescuers and EMS, who as usual deserve the credit for a ‘save’, as if they don’t get the heart restarted in the field there’s not a lot we can do in the ER.
I was also told I was involved in the care of 4 of them. Crazy odds.
Two patients knew of me (probably from billing, frankly, none were awake in the ED), and they were 100% neurologically intact. We had nice chats, and I got my photo with both, but as I didn’t ask their permission to post them, I won’t.
Still, wow.
It’s incredibly humbling to have follow-up on a happy ED case, and when it’s neurologically intact CPR survivors, it’s the equivalent of a Moon shot for an ER guy, and today I got four. Four.
(It’s an occupational hazard in the ED that we meet/greet/diagnose/stabilize and disposition, and what that individual patients’ medical future holds we have no idea unless we go out of our way, and we’re busy enough nobody I know goes out of their way to follow up cases).
I am renewed. I’m not a Pollyanna doc (read the blog), but this has my attention: the practice has changed, and it works.
Hallelujah.
