What Medical Emergencies Frighten ER Doctors And Nurses The Most?

This question was originally posted on Quora.com and was answered by John Waldron, RN practicing for 42 years



There is a moment of sheer terror when you have to paralyze someone to put in a breathing tube in. Once you have pushed the Pavulon or other paralytic agent there’s no going back and you only have a minute to get the tube down the right hole and avoid brain damage and those seconds go by really fast. Everyone working on the resus is holding their breath.

Another particularly scary one for me was trying to resuscitate a pregnant women whose uterus had ruptured. She was attempting both a home delivery and what is called a “VBAC” (Vaginal Birth After previous C Section). It was a bloody mess and a frantic scramble to try and save mother and baby. Mom survived, the perfectly formed at term infant girl did not. To this day if I even hear the term VBAC I cringe.

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