DISCLAIMER:

This is NOT meant to offend anyone in the nursing profession (of which I am a part). Nurses need to understand better where EMS is coming from.

Locale: rural nursing home; CPR training for staff who have just been mandated by the feds to provide in-house CPR.

Players: RNs, LPNs, CNAs, and members of the local rescue squad

<<<<< -  the 11-7 supervisor

Rescue Captain: (trying to be as nice as possible, but realizing what obstacles he's facing) The reality is that once we're in that room, we have control of the scene.

At this point, the 11-7 supervisor, in all her glory, folds her hands in front of her, sticks out her chin, and takes a breath deep enough for the buttons on her shirt to strain.

Supervisor: You don't mean to tell me that YOU are going to tell me what to do with MY patient!

Rescue Captain:(as respectfully as possible) Yes, we are.

Supervisor:(taking an even deeper breath) Well! I don't know . . .

Rescue Captain: Let me ask you this. Are you willing to take full responsibility for that patient from the time you call us, throughout the ride to the hospital, and inside, even though we're trained to do skills you're not trained to do?

Supervisor: Well, I'm an RN.

Rescue Captain:(still maintaining his cool) Let's put it this way.  If you're doing CPR, and doing it properly, don't stop unless we ask you to.  However, if we ask you to do or NOT do something, and you start to get in our way, we'll have you escorted out of the room. If at that point you don't stop, we'll have you arrested.  

Enough said.

Time: 1:15 am, 3 years later.

Event: first ever code run at that particular home.

Players: 11-7 supervisor (yup - the patient had excellent timing!), another RN and the CNAs.  Plus the rescue squad and ambulance crew.

The patient didn't make it.  However, rescue and the ambulance crew report that there were no problems.  Reality has a wonderful way of teaching us lessons, sometimes, doesn't it?

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