Do you know what ROSC means?
This is the reason we work.
It means Return Of Spontaneous Circulation.
It means that someone was dead, without any circulation and came back to life.
This is beautiful.
A rare miracle that we got to enjoy on this Christmas day. For this to happen, one must have a reversible cause that is recognized and treated early.
I wrote recently that we get to relieve pain often and occasionally we save lives. I say WE and I mean WE. The emergency doctor is just a part of this chain of survival. It starts with you, the people and it ends with the post resuscitation intensive care unit. In the middle, there are a lot of good people. I was just little part of this wonderful team that worked together to make the magic happen.
Let me tell the story. It’s a feel-good story that is worth telling at the end of the day, when our work is done and we can enjoy a beer.
Tonight, a man was celebrating Christmas with his family. He is just a normal guy in his 70s with a family, just like yours and mine. Suddenly, he feels a pain in his chest. He becomes pale. The family members gather around him and, just like that, he falls. They call 911. The firemen get there first within a few minutes. They assess the situation. Suddenly, while they are examining him, his heart stops, he’s dead. They immediately put him on a defibrillator. It recognizes an abnormal rhythm called ventricular fibrillation. They defibrillate him. Paramedics arrive. They defibrillate him twice more. ROSC happens. He is brought back to life.
Then, he’s transported to our ER and, intubated, stabilized by my colleague and transferred for an urgent angioplasty. I was mostly just a helpful witness.
After my call, I went back to the intensive care to check on our patient. He is still alive and stable.
Well, on this Christmas day, my gratitude goes to this wonderful team I have the privilege to work with: firemen, paramedics, nurses, doctors, lab technicians, respiratory therapists, administrative assistants, pharmacists, everybody is important and part of this team. It is through collaboration and with our passion for great work that lives are saved.
Kudos! to the firemen and paramedics who first arrived on the scene. They kept their calm and followed their protocols. Without their quick intervention, someone would’ve died tonight. They did great work and they saved life. I have a lot of respect for what you do.
Before I finish, I must repeat this once more. Enjoy the time spent with your family. Fill this time with love, smiles and laughter. Tell your parents and grandparents you love them because we never know what next year will bring.
Good night, have a merry Christmas and thank you.
Original post Facebook, December 2015
Martin Pham Dinh 