CODE BLUE

I had FINALLY started to study when procrastination came back to bite me in the butt.

I was sitting at the HUCs desk relieving her for lunch when suddenly a patient in my pod started to go down hill. In the process of being switched over to a different ossilator, she started to desat and her blood pressures dropped. Unfortuantely for me, since I was covering for the HUC, I had to page a million fellows, RTs, attendees, etc AND run around getting the code stuff.  Thank God for the PCAs from other pods that came to assist me. In the PICU, teamwork makes the dreamwork. As much as I get annoyed by this job I can honestly say that whenever there is a crisis the staff work together fluidly. Its all about changing the outcome for our patients.


Codes can be very hard to watch. There is blood. There are screaming parents. There is a kid trying to die. It is scary that I've almost become numb to them. When I first started here over a year ago codes bothered me deeply. I couldnt stand to see children die traumatically and the family members breaking down in the process. As a healthcare worker it is very important to be able to keep your cool during emergent situations.  I am thankful that I have acquired some type of buffer that enables me to stay on my toes under pressure BUT I dont ever want to loose my empathy for our patients and families. My daughter coded and almost died several times. I was the parent watching my child be recusitated. Ive lived on both sides of the equation. 

Thankfully, the patient made it through another code.
Tragically, a measurable amount of studying was not achieved.
-Kelley