Unconventional Sign Language

The patient coming through the door was having trouble breathing. No doubt. You could hear the hiss of the nebulizer as the cart whisked by the nurse’s station into a room. Most people knew the patient from prior emergency department visits. Bad asthma Steroid dependent Several previous intubations Last ED visit a couple of months ago Unfortunately, being in the middle of doing a central line on a septic octagenarian with a systolic blood pressure less than her age makes it difficult to go evaluate a new patient. I asked the nurse to go get me one of the PAs. “Do me a favor,” I said to the PA, “Go take a peek at the new patient and see how she’s doing.” After a minute, the PA came back and said “Everything looks pretty good. She’s trying to get comfortable on the cart right now. Her lungs have a few wheezes but are pretty clear. Her saturation is 100%. She even gave me the ‘Chaka Brah‘ sign.” Good. Now I can finish getting this line in place. A few minutes later, there was a commotion from down the hall. “We need a doctor in Room 3 NOW!” Room 3? That’s the asthma patient’s room. I looked at the PA. She looked back at me with horror. “Just hold the dressing on this line until I come back and sew it in place, OK? Thanks.” In Room 3, the asthma patient was diaphoretic and was moving very little air. She was tripoding. She gave me one look and did the “Chaka Brah” sig...
Source: WhiteCoat's Call Room - Category: Emergency Medicine Doctors Authors: Tags: Patient Encounters Source Type: blogs