Crisis Read Online Free
and quickly attached them with a bit of conducting jelly.
"Is she going to be all right?" Leona asked in a whisper.
"Who the hell knows," Craig answered. "She's cyanotic, for Christ's sake."
"What's cyanotic?"
"There's not enough oxygen in her blood. I don't know if it's because her heart isn't pumping enough or she's not breathing enough. It's one or the other or both."
Craig concentrated on the ECG machine as it spewed out a tracing. There were only little blips, widely spaced. Craig tore off the output strip and took a quick, closer glance at it before jamming it into his jacket pocket. He then snapped the leads off Patience's extremities.
Jordan hung up the phone. "The ambulance is on its way."
Craig merely nodded as he rapidly rummaged in his bag and pulled out an Ambu breathing bag. He placed the mask over Patience's nose and mouth and compressed the bag. Her chest rose easily suggesting good ventilation.
"Could you do this?" Craig asked Leona as he continued to ventilate Patience.
"I guess so," Leona said hesitantly. She squeezed between Craig and the headboard and took over the assisted breathing.
Craig showed her how to maintain a seal and keep Patience's head back. He then glanced at Patience's pupils. They were widely dilated and unreactive. It wasn't a good sign. With the stethoscope, he checked Patience's breath sounds. She was being aerated well.
Back in his black bag, Craig pulled out the assay kit for testing for the biomarkers associated with a heart attack. He tore open the box and pulled out one of the plastic devices. He used a small, heparinized syringe to get some blood from a major vein, shook it, and then put six drops into the sample area. He then held the device under the light.
"Well, that's positive," he said after a moment. He then haphazardly tossed everything back into his bag. "What is positive?" Jordan asked.
"Her blood is positive for myoglobin and troponin," Craig said. "In layman's terms, it means she's had a heart attack." With his stethoscope, Craig ascertained that Leona was ventilating Patience appropriately.
"So your initial impression was correct," Jordan commented.
"Hardly," Craig said. "I'm afraid I have to say, she is in a very bad situation."
"I was trying to communicate as much on the phone," Jordan said stiffly. "But at the moment, I was referring to the heart attack."
"She is worse off than you led me to believe," Craig said as he got out some epinephrine and atropine, along with a small bottle of intravenous fluid.
"I beg your pardon. I was quite clear she was progressively getting worse."
"You said she was having a little trouble breathing. Actually, she was hardly breathing at all when we got here. You could have let me know that. You said you believed she was rather blue, whereas I find her totally cyanotic." Craig deftly started an intravenous infusion. He taped the needle in place and gave the epinephrine and atropine. He hung the small IV bottle from the lampshade with a small S hook he had made for that specific purpose.
"I was doing the best I could to communicate to you, doctor."
"I appreciate that," Craig said, holding up his hands in a conciliatory gesture. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be critical. I'm just concerned about your wife. What we need to do now is get her to the hospital as quickly as we can. She needs to be ventilated with oxygen, and she needs a cardiac pacer. On top of that, I'm certain she is acidotic and must be treated for it."
The undulating sound of the approaching ambulance could be heard in the distance. Jordan left to go downstairs to let in the emergency technicians and direct them up to Patience's room.
"Is she going to make it?" Leona asked as she continued compressing the Ambu bag. "She doesn't look quite as blue to me."
"You're doing a great job with that breathing bag," Craig responded. "But I'm not optimistic, since her pupils haven't come down, and she's so flaccid. But we'll know better when we get her over to
"Is she going to be all right?" Leona asked in a whisper.
"Who the hell knows," Craig answered. "She's cyanotic, for Christ's sake."
"What's cyanotic?"
"There's not enough oxygen in her blood. I don't know if it's because her heart isn't pumping enough or she's not breathing enough. It's one or the other or both."
Craig concentrated on the ECG machine as it spewed out a tracing. There were only little blips, widely spaced. Craig tore off the output strip and took a quick, closer glance at it before jamming it into his jacket pocket. He then snapped the leads off Patience's extremities.
Jordan hung up the phone. "The ambulance is on its way."
Craig merely nodded as he rapidly rummaged in his bag and pulled out an Ambu breathing bag. He placed the mask over Patience's nose and mouth and compressed the bag. Her chest rose easily suggesting good ventilation.
"Could you do this?" Craig asked Leona as he continued to ventilate Patience.
"I guess so," Leona said hesitantly. She squeezed between Craig and the headboard and took over the assisted breathing.
Craig showed her how to maintain a seal and keep Patience's head back. He then glanced at Patience's pupils. They were widely dilated and unreactive. It wasn't a good sign. With the stethoscope, he checked Patience's breath sounds. She was being aerated well.
Back in his black bag, Craig pulled out the assay kit for testing for the biomarkers associated with a heart attack. He tore open the box and pulled out one of the plastic devices. He used a small, heparinized syringe to get some blood from a major vein, shook it, and then put six drops into the sample area. He then held the device under the light.
"Well, that's positive," he said after a moment. He then haphazardly tossed everything back into his bag. "What is positive?" Jordan asked.
"Her blood is positive for myoglobin and troponin," Craig said. "In layman's terms, it means she's had a heart attack." With his stethoscope, Craig ascertained that Leona was ventilating Patience appropriately.
"So your initial impression was correct," Jordan commented.
"Hardly," Craig said. "I'm afraid I have to say, she is in a very bad situation."
"I was trying to communicate as much on the phone," Jordan said stiffly. "But at the moment, I was referring to the heart attack."
"She is worse off than you led me to believe," Craig said as he got out some epinephrine and atropine, along with a small bottle of intravenous fluid.
"I beg your pardon. I was quite clear she was progressively getting worse."
"You said she was having a little trouble breathing. Actually, she was hardly breathing at all when we got here. You could have let me know that. You said you believed she was rather blue, whereas I find her totally cyanotic." Craig deftly started an intravenous infusion. He taped the needle in place and gave the epinephrine and atropine. He hung the small IV bottle from the lampshade with a small S hook he had made for that specific purpose.
"I was doing the best I could to communicate to you, doctor."
"I appreciate that," Craig said, holding up his hands in a conciliatory gesture. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be critical. I'm just concerned about your wife. What we need to do now is get her to the hospital as quickly as we can. She needs to be ventilated with oxygen, and she needs a cardiac pacer. On top of that, I'm certain she is acidotic and must be treated for it."
The undulating sound of the approaching ambulance could be heard in the distance. Jordan left to go downstairs to let in the emergency technicians and direct them up to Patience's room.
"Is she going to make it?" Leona asked as she continued compressing the Ambu bag. "She doesn't look quite as blue to me."
"You're doing a great job with that breathing bag," Craig responded. "But I'm not optimistic, since her pupils haven't come down, and she's so flaccid. But we'll know better when we get her over to
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