Go to the right A&E
Had a rough on call on Thursday night at K. 55 year old man who had a valve in his heart replaced two weeks earlier turned up.
I spoke directly to the guy who did it for him. As soon as I said pain in his back he knew what I knew. He had come to the wrong hospital. We couldn't fix it here.
Very quickly he'd be too unstable to transfer and he needed a scan. Within a few minutes he was too unstable to scan. He arrested and died. Aortic dissection.
A good friend of mine, the casualty officer who had been with him since he arrived was really distraught. We fought hard for a good two hours but we had no chance really. I gave half a thought to opening his chest in the A&E department but I decided I had no answer to the "and then what?" question. No matter what I found in there there was no way I could fix it. His fate had been sealed when he picked he called the cab for K.
The moral of the story people. If you've had reacent heart surgery and something happens in the line of chest pain or breathlessness, go to the hospital that did the surgery or you will probably die.
I spoke directly to the guy who did it for him. As soon as I said pain in his back he knew what I knew. He had come to the wrong hospital. We couldn't fix it here.
Very quickly he'd be too unstable to transfer and he needed a scan. Within a few minutes he was too unstable to scan. He arrested and died. Aortic dissection.
A good friend of mine, the casualty officer who had been with him since he arrived was really distraught. We fought hard for a good two hours but we had no chance really. I gave half a thought to opening his chest in the A&E department but I decided I had no answer to the "and then what?" question. No matter what I found in there there was no way I could fix it. His fate had been sealed when he picked he called the cab for K.
The moral of the story people. If you've had reacent heart surgery and something happens in the line of chest pain or breathlessness, go to the hospital that did the surgery or you will probably die.
posted by Phil at 8:28 pm
1 Comments:
One of the reasons I chose this street to live on was its proximity to the John Radcliffe Hospital. Nobody believes me when I tell them that, but it's true. It wasn't the first criterion (walking distance to the joys of Cowley Road) nor the second (up a hill so no risk of flooding) nor the third (on major bus route so less driving required), but it was on the list. I've probably got a while before heart surgery (and Miles too if he keeps taking his statins) but you never know.
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