Last night I was called up to the floor for a "Come up here before we have to call a code." Well, there you go--what does that mean? I went up to find out. An old guy laying in bed with a heart rate of 177, diaphoresis, chest pain. Getting a little info from the nurses the possible history of WPW arose. Hmm...The guys QRS interval was 120ms, right at the edge of normal. I decided this was most likely ortho-dromic conduction and....you know what, this is too much inside baseball. suffice it to say that the gy needed Adenosine promptly and I gave it to him and the situation settled down nicely.
Two things stand out for me: One, I like being the guy that is called when bad things are happpening and something needs to be done. Two, there was another doc there, waiting for me to come up and deal with the situation, and I am SO glad not to be that guy. Of course, isn't that what just happened last night when I called anesthesia for a tube I couldn't get? Interesting....Another win for humility in medicine. Competence and humility--those are what you want in a doctor.
Friday, April 20, 2007
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