Post 36 Another embarrassing medical moment

Almost all of my medical experience had been spent in a hospital environment; mainly as a medical student but also as a junior doctor.    I had noticed that consultants sometimes spoke of their general practitioner colleagues with a certain disdain.   They seemed to regard themselves as superior beings and were prone to comment adversely on GPs diagnostic skills and the quality of their referral letters.   As a result, I embarked on my locum GP post eager to set a high standard.    How the mighty are fallen for within a few days my eyes were opened to the entirely different world that is general practice and the range of skills and experience required of the general practitioner.

                                                                           -------------------------

I had been asked to see a lady on a home visit who was breathless.   She was a wiry 75 year old and the moment I walked through the door, I realised that I had a medical emergency on my hands.    She was collapsed in a chair, cold, pale, clammy and acutely dyspnoeic.  
She had experienced some chest pain earlier in the day and was in acute heart failure.    It was a situation I had dealt with many times in the past but always in a hospital setting.    I quickly realised I had no ECG machine, no oxygen and no one to turn to should I need assistance.

I did however have a medical bag in which I had put a variety of items that I thought might be useful.   These included the standard drugs used at this time to treat heart failure; frusemide, digoxin and aminophylline.
With a fair amount of confidence, I opened the three glass vials and placed them on a small adjacent table.    Then I delved into my bag for needles and syringes.     There were plenty of needles but only one 20ml syringe.    No matter, I thought, I'll draw up the 10mls of aminophylline and then mix in the digoxin and frusemide; after all I reasoned, it's all going to be injected intravenously. 

   But disaster struck.   When I added the digoxin and frusemide, the clear solution of aminophylline turned cloudy which then set with the consistency of thick yoghurt.   I placed the needle in the patient's vein but no matter how hard I pushed on the plunger, the mixture was far too thick to inject through the needle.

By this time, the patient was getting increasingly breathless, her husband increasingly concerned and I was getting increasingly red-faced, embarrassed and fearful I should have a death on my hands.
'Dial 999 for an ambulance, I instructed the husband, trying to hide the panic in my voice, 'and stress to them it's very urgent.'
I sat with the patient until the paramedics came.   They gave her oxygen and whisked her off to hospital.

A greater embarrassment occurred a fortnight later when I visited her after she had been discharged having survived her heart attack.   
Her husband forced a bottle of whisky on me, whilst she gave me a hug and a kiss with tears in her eyes and thanked me for saving her life.


Comment
To make a mistake is human. No one goes through a career in healthcare without making mistakes.   Anyone who claims they have done is a liar.   What is important is to learn from mistakes and to avoid repeating them.    Some mistakes have severe consequences - fortunately the outcome in the story related here was merely embarrassing.

Comments

  1. Valuable information. Lucky me I found your website by accident, and I'm shocked why this accident did not happened earlier! I bookmarked it. Perfect Color Scheme for Your Website


    ReplyDelete
  2. whoah this blog is fantastic i love reading your articles. Keep up the great work! You know, a lot of people are searching around for this information, you could aid them greatly. Fresh web design concepts

    ReplyDelete
  3. Excellent post. I always check this type of blog, and I’m impressed with Extremely useful info specially the last part, I care for such information a lot. I am exploring this particular info for a long time. Thanks to this blog my exploration has ended. best medical training institutes in india

    ReplyDelete
  4. Good day! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a group of volunteers and starting a new initiative in a community in the same niche. Your blog provided us useful information to work on. You have done a outstanding job! social media campaign singapore

    ReplyDelete
  5. Fed Help Medical Centers is a medical practice that helps injured federal workers and others who need medical care as a result of job related injuries.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I really enjoy the post.Much thanks again. Cool.
    check this

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is a great article thanks for this informative information. I will visit your blog regularly for some latest post. I will visit your blog regularly for Some latest post.
    unlimited internet Bahrain

    ReplyDelete
  8. Share great information about your blog , Blog really helpful for us . We read your blog , share most useful information in blog . Thanks for share your blog here . Diagnostic Testing

    ReplyDelete
  9. This blog website is actually valuable to supply updated events over internet which is actually appraisable. Microdermabrasion Treatment

    ReplyDelete
  10. I am really happy to say it’s an interesting post to read and the article is very interesting and effective. we also provide DOL Doctors for Federal Workers FL. if you want more information then you can visit on our website.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh no. Thankfully yes, she cane through. Your presence there helped to give them hope too. Now you're a better doctor for it.
    natural diuretic for dogs with chf

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment