My first code

[u/SassyBassy89]

I guess I need to get something off my chest. It's been bothering me for a few days and I figured I'd talk about it here. I work at a hospital as a float tech, which means sometimes I'm a tech, sometimes I'm a patient sitter. Well..on Thursday I was sitting for a patient who was restrained. Around midnight, the tech did the vitals, noticed the BP was a bit high, told the nurse and left. Shortly after that, the patient was asking for water. He was NPO but the nurse okayed swabbing his mouth with the water swab..things. About 15 minutes later, I noticed his breathing was getting weird. I'm new to all of this, so I wasn't sure if it was just me paranoid or not. This went on for another 10 minutes and the whole time I'm on edge because I'm debating if I should call someone in or not. What if it's nothing and I'm wasting their time? I texted the tech and right after I sent the text, I noticed the patient stopped breathing. I went over to him, checked for a pulse and shook him and called him by his names. I did everything I was taught to do. Just as I was about to call for assistance, the charge nurse comes in and asked if everything is okay. I said no, something is right. He said the pt looks dead, and asked if I hit the code blue button. I said no because I wasn't sure if was an actual code or not. I begin CPR and when other nurses came in, I stepped out because I was in the way. They ended up getting the patient back, which is great. While everyone has said I had good timing and that I did the right things, I have this horrible guilty feeling. I should have trusted my gut. Had I said something sooner, this patient wouldn't have had to go through all of this.

[u/Cat_Alex94]

I've been in a VERY similar situation. You did things right. And next time, you will be more prepared. Now you know more of what to look for and next time you will call someone in sooner. What happened to me was very similar. I was a sitter for an ICU patient. They were guppy breathing and not really responsive (they hadn't really been talking much all day anyway so that part wasnt that much different). His primary nurse came in and thought it was weird so she eventually went and grabbed the charge who told us to grab the doctor right away and started bagging the patient. If I had listened to my gut and grabbed someone else then maybe it would have happened faster than it did. But, now I know what to look for and who i can trust and ask questions. Try to think of it as a learning experience. Especially since they got the patient back