Showing posts with label Unexpected Patient Demise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Unexpected Patient Demise. Show all posts

Thursday, June 15, 2017

Unexpected Patient Demise in the Emergency Department

Image Credit: Pixabay
Author: Victoria Weston, MD
2015-2016 RSA President
Originally published: Common Sense January/February 2016

I could hear the wails of grief coming from our trauma bay. It was the start of my shift, and the prior team had recently terminated an unsuccessful resuscitation. The patient had been chronically ill and had collapsed while checking in at our triage desk. Although the patient had cancer and had been unwell for years, his family was shocked and devastated by their sudden, unexpected loss.