Code MET

This week I responded to a Code MET.. A Code MET is called when there is a medical emergency in the hospital that requires intervention by the medical emergency team (MET) which consist of an ICU nurse, Respiratory therapist (RT) and a Doctor. When I heard the Code, my preceptor told me I should go to it to see how they're ran and what our role is during one.. so I did, with another ICU nurse of course.. before arriving all I could think about is what could have went wrong with this patient.. Atrial Fibrillation (A.fib) w/rapid ventricular rate (RVR)? Hypotension? Shortness of breath (SOB)?.. upon exiting the elevator a Code Blue was called to the exact room we were heading to which meant the patient stopped breathing.. as we headed down the hall all I could see were the different medical personnel running in and out of the room.. once we arrived the nurse I was with started compressions while someone else bagged the patient.. the Physician Assistant (PA) from our unit ran the Code.. and it wasn't long before I was passing 1mg of Epinephrine to my fellow coworker. Apparently the patient aspirated (<--choked) on water and stopped breathing shortly after.. 10 minutes into the code, we finally obtained a pulse and a blood pressure and rushed the patient down to our unit where we began prepping them for intubation (placing the breathing tube in) since they could not protect their airway and arterial line (A-line) placement to closely monitor their blood pressure (BP).. though the patient remained critical for several days, he survived.

 

                                                       "Thinking to myself"

 (Disclaimer: The clinical suggestions, advice and recommendations described on sicunurse.blogspot.com are based on my personal opinions and are not medical advice. The content is for entertainment purposes only. I, surgicalnurse.blogspot.com, do not own, nor did I create any of the animations above. I did create the captions written above and below them, customizing them to my experiences along with learning tips I have found helpful in my practice).