Death is the punctuation of every life and is not foreign to us as humans, we will all grieve and handle the situation in our own ways. You can never predict how a family or loved one will react to this tragic situation.

My FD brothers handled a call a few years back (I thank the Lord I was not on this call, it was right after my sons death) where a four year old had his head crushed in an elevator that had the safety mechanisms disabled. His head was crushed, he was in arrest, but he had some agonal breathing. They did everything they could knowing it was going to be futile (his brain was hanging out the top of his head), they did the right thing. The mother stopped by a week later and needed to know that they did everything, this was part of her grieving. The fact is, when her son died, she then became the patient and the treatment of her son was, in reality, treatment for her.

As care providers it is a fine line we all have to walk, as a rule if I have to err, I try to err on the side of patient advocacy and care. In the event of foul play or some other untoward circumstance, this may mean preserving the scene vs. resuscitation. I just hope I never have to make that call……

Keep up the good work…..discussions like this keeps us all sharp.

http://davidkonig.com/2010/because-its-not-all-motions-and-theater/

Thanks David

It’s true Sean. It’s easy to take the high road and say … just tell them. But it truly is delivering the worst possible news you could ever deliver to another human being. It’s earth shattering. Right thing to do or not, it’s unspeakably difficult. And we should recognize that.

@Greg Thanks Greg, I really liked your contribution as well.

@Happy “be honest, be professional and let the family grieve in their own way, not ours.” Great advice and I agree with it . but, by no means is that an easy thing to do. Of course, If we wanted easy work we could have been toll booth operators.

@Kris, Thanks for sharing. I agree that asking is a powerful tool. I use it often when I’m working adult CORs. I’ve never asked parents what they wanted. I could see some benefits and some negatives to putting that decision on them. You’d need to feel out the situation.

@Graeme I think the Broslow tape is a God send and I carry one with me. you bring up an excellent point about the complexities of pedi resuscitation. They certainly factor in.

@Rogue Thanks Tim, I appreciate that.

@CBEMT It really frustrates me to hear about protocols that prevent EMTs from using good judgement. Sorry dude.

@Jameson, I agree.

@ CBEMT I think Greg Friese of http://www.everydayemstips.com is looking for people who have protocols preventing them from stopping pedi CPR. I think he’d be very interested in your protocol. Send him an email.

I’d probably have a blog myself if it weren’t for that.