One of Your Own

While reading Medic7's latest post about a fellow medic turned drug addict, I was reminded of the difficulty of treating "one your own."

Not too long ago, we received a radio patch alerting us to an incoming ingestion.  I prepped a critical care bed, making sure we had monitor leads, and EKG ready, and intubation equipment just in case.  EMTs arrived a few minutes later with a middle-aged woman, trashing on the stretcher and muttering incoherently.

Unlike most ingestions, however, she was wearing scrubs.  As we changed her into a gown, we found an ID badge from Another Hospital, where she worked as an RN.  

While the nurse tried to get blood and I connected the patient to the monitor, we listened as she cried about how busy her unit had been lately, and how she could no longer deal with the stress.  Knowing exactly what she was doing, she had taken a powerful combination of drugs, but thankfully had been found almost immediately.  Her stomach was pumped in the ER, and she was quickly admitted upstairs.

No suicide attempt is ever easy to deal with, but this one really hit home.