syncope

there must be something about me that says 'come by me, then have a syncopal episode'.

when i had been out of nursing school for about a year, i was out at a bar with a few friends.  i noticed some commotion by the bathrooms, and went over there to find a guy laying on the floor.  leaning over him was one of the ortho residents that i knew from work.  to this day, i am humiliated by the fact that i practically yelled "DO YOU WANT A BLOOD SUGAR?" and then whipped out my glucometer and took a fingerstick.  also by the fact that the guy eventually got up off of the floor and went into the men's room, where i followed him to make sure he was steady and not going to collapse again.  overzealous much?  ok.  

maybe a year later i took my first vacation day EVER up until that point.  my friend and i were about to leave her apartment to go to an art show, when we noticed a group of housekeepers gathered outside of her neighbor's door.  apparently she had passed out and fallen several days before, then couldn't get up.  they could hear the elderly lady inside, but couldn't get in because her door was double locked and they only had one key.  while my friend called the fire department, i took a brief history while yelling under her door.  i'm sure the firemen appreciated my helpful "she's A+Ox2.  and diabetic."  they axed in the door, and took her to the hospital.  only two words come to mind here, people: life alert.  get your favorite senior citizen one.  

then there was the time last summer that i was having dinner with a fellow nursing friend at Applebees, when a woman ran into the restaurant screaming "call 911".  we ran to the parking lot to find a little old man on the ground between two cars.  i made myself very helpful by taking just about forever to find a pulse because i was shaking so bad.  he came to, the ambulance arrived, and he refused to go to the hospital.  unfortunately, i had pretty much lost my appetite for the santa fe chicken salad after that.

and today, i was at church listening to a detailed description of leprosy, looking around to see if anyone was going to barf from all the graphic talk of skin boils and open wounds.  i watched a woman get up and walk out of the service.  i heard a crash, and ran out to find her on the floor.  by the time i got there (approximately 30 seconds), we had 2 EMTs, a retired fire chief, and 2 other nurses.  so this lady was unresponsive, pale, and clammy.  breathing.  pulse weak but there.  we had equipment, so while someone got some oxygen and someone else took a blood pressure, i ran for my trusty glucometer (yes, i am a freak) and tried to get a blood sugar.  which took me 2 tries because i was shaking so hard.

*i would like to break here and say this: adrenaline is not my friend.  no matter how competent you are, it is very difficult to look cool and collected while shaking like a crackhead who needs a fix.  as inconvenient as that is for me, it's just how i respond to trauma.  but this is your job, you say.  you should be used to this by now.  yeah, maybe i should.  but when i'm at work, i'm in the zone.  i have my eye on the people i think might get sick, so i can be ready.  and when something catastrophic and unexpected (like an out-of-the-blue code) happens, i get all my people there and usually do the thing that requires the least coordination...like the compressions.*

so anyway, blood sugar is fine, pulse is fine, pressure is fine.  ambulance arrives and loads her up.  i make myself useful by helping her with the earring she's trying to get off her ear, as my fine motor skills chose this moment to finally return.  and off she went {for the record, i'm thinking orthostatic hypotension secondary to over-aggressive BP meds caused this, and not the gory leprosy sermon}

so there you have it: my unfortunate history of syncope and good samaritanism.  or something like that.