Friday, August 7, 2009

Last Night

Today I have been thinking a lot about God. I don't consider myself to be deeply religious but I did grow up attending church and believing in and loving God. There have been many times that I have felt His presence or influence in my life and accepted it as normal. There are times that I am taken aback by His work though and realize that He really does work miracles. Case in point; last night.
I am a nurse at a busy children's hospital that is connected to an equally busy adult hospital in fact the ERs are just a short hallway away from each other. Last night I was helping out in the ER early in my shift. It was fairly busy and getting close to midnight. A team of doctors and nurses had just finished performing a procedure on a teenage boy. The boy's father left the room to go to the restroom and he collapsed either in or near the bathroom. A nurse quickly helped him get up and into an empty exam room and alerted other staff about what was happening. The father was complaining of chest pain, was diaphoretic (sweaty) and clammy. A team made of nurses, doctors, respiratory therapists and a nursing assistant went into action. Within minutes of his fall he had an IV started with blood work drawn, he was hooked up to monitors and had oxygen applied via nasal cannula and an EKG was performed. The doctor looked at the EKG for 5 seconds and announced that we needed to get this man to the adult ER NOW. He was having a heart attack. They rolled him out and down the hall to the adult ER. His wife accompanied him there after being assured that her son, who was stable, would be well taken care of and would not be left alone in the room. From the time of the man's collapse to the time he was wheeled into the adult ER about 10 minutes. He likely was taken to the cardiac cath lab within the half hour. I was able to follow up with the nursing staff later that night and found that the man was doing well.
At first I looked at the event as a tragedy. Here is this 50 something year old man suffering a heart attack, his son is in the hospital, his wife is torn about who to be more concerned about. But what if he hadn't been in the hospital when it happened, what if he had been at home? Would the paramedics have arrived and get him to a hospital in time? Would he have just died in his sleep? Maybe there was a reason his son was suffering last night. Maybe he was suffering so his father could be saved. It wasn't his father's time to go, he needs to be here still. He needed to be saved. I am in awe of His work. I am confused by the way He does his work but it saved a life last night and for that there are many who are thankful.