Janelle (Pierson) Heisler '12, '15, 毕业于沃拉沃拉大学，获得健康促进和护理学位.
我已经当了8年的护士，其中一半以上的时间在急诊科工作. My passion is for emergency nursing! 我被这个专业所吸引，是因为对轮班可能出现的情况的预期, potential for saving lives, 快节奏, 以及治疗不同年龄、不同程度的患者的能力. There is rarely a dull moment, and we often see tragedies with few victories. 这22nd of February, I expected no different.
我带着当天的行政工作计划来到这个单位，其中包括图表审计, patient call backs, 等. 我没有穿平时的工作服，因为我认为我不需要在这个单位工作. As the day went on, 我完成了大部分的行政任务，正准备回家, 但我需要把一些最新的表格交给当天值班的护士长. I walked out onto the unit and saw a large commotion in room 11. 我问主管护士发生了什么事，她回答说:“儿科急诊，溺水了。”.
My heart sank. It doesn’t matter how long you have been a nurse; pediatric codes are the absolute worst and stick with you forever. 我问主管护士父母在哪里，她指给我看家庭活动室. 我迅速走到11号房间，看看他们是否需要临床方面的帮助, but the team looked well established. 于是我去了家庭活动室，妈妈、爸爸和姐姐都在那里. They were understandably distraught. The mom was sitting on the floor in shock, the dad sat in a chair, bawling his eyes out, and the sister (about five years old) was confused about what was going on. I suddenly found myself in the sacred role of taking care of the family.
While comforting the family I uncovered more of their story. They had a large family and lived in the country. 父母提到他们有六个孩子，住在一大片土地上，包括一个游泳池和地下按摩浴缸. 父亲说他接了一个工作电话，而母亲需要在家里做点事情. 妈妈让大一点的孩子们在外面玩的时候照看孩子，几分钟后她就会出来和他们一起玩. 当妈妈完成了她的事情，她走到外面看看孩子们在做什么, but couldn’t find the baby anywhere. 最后, 在给丈夫打了电话并进行了彻底的搜索后，他们找到了他们19个月大的女儿, 娜塔莉*, in the freezing cold jacuzzi, 毫无生气的. Emergency Medical Services (EMS) was called and CPR initiated.
当娜塔莉到达网上博彩澳门银河部门时，急救人员已经在现场做了大约30分钟的心肺复苏术. 网上博彩澳门银河给她接上了所有的监护仪，并继续进行心肺复苏术等挽救生命的措施, warming her up, and giving Pediatric Advanced Life 支持 (PALS) medications. About 15 minutes after she arrived, I asked the mom and dad if they would like to see her; they said yes. On the way over to the room I was explaining what they might hear and see. As the code continued, the energy in the room started to get darker and darker. The team had given her around 15 rounds of epinephrine and other medications, yet she remained in pulseless electrical activity (PEA). We coded her for over an hour. We were trying to get her temperature up before calling it. The doctor reached out to another facility for their expert opinion. 他们说她可能是在体温过低之前淹死的，而不是体温过低. Therefore, considering how long we coded her, death was inevitable.
During this time it felt like an eternity. The world stopped. The medical team gave their best effort. I was intensely focused on the family and the mother in particular. 我在她身边解释发生了什么，为什么他们要做某些事情. If she had questions I was there. If she needed someone to hold on to, pray with or cry with, I was there. It was truly emotionally taxing. Many times I was at a loss for words. I wasn’t sure how to best support them, except just to be present for them.
Then the doctor called time of death.
妈妈跑向床边，尖叫着娜塔莉的名字，把她抱在怀里. The dad fell to his knees in shock and disbelief. The sister didn’t understand why everyone was so sad. The medical team stopped the life saving measures, stepped out of the room, and everyone started to cry. I paused, heartbroken for everyone. Tears came down my cheeks and soaked my mask. My heart affirmed that I was needed, but I didn’t know how best to help. How could I help? There wasn’t anything I could do to fix this problem. I couldn’t bring her back to life. I felt helpless.
I believe I felt the Spirit urge me to just be present. Cry with them. 拥抱他们. Pray for them. 让他们在这种寒冷、黑暗、不可逆转的情况下尽可能感到温暖. I was there, in this devastating moment, with them.
Sadly and ironically, I have experienced loss in my own family to drowning. Not my own child, but three of my cousins. 我的叔叔和婶婶正在旅行，他们在一条湍急的大河旁的露营地停了下来. It was late at night and my cousins were sleeping in the car, so my aunt and uncle decided to quickly run into the bathroom, which was right next to their campsite, before setting up camp. When they came out of the bathroom, the car was not where they had parked it. The car had rolled down the slight, barely noticeable slope into the river. 河水的力量是如此强大，我的姑姑和叔叔无法打开门. It took several hours before EMS could retrieve my cousins. Devastatingly, none of them made it. After the incident, 警察发现他们的汽车有一个缺陷，当司机的车门被用力关上时，导致汽车冲出了停车场. This was one of my first experiences with tragedy, but lives with me to this day—and probably forever.
从宣布娜塔莉死亡到现在已经过去了18分钟，我站在那里，不知道下一步该怎么办, 我意识到他们可能想坐在她旁边，而网上博彩澳门银河房间里没有足够的椅子. I walked out of the room and came back with two chairs. 当妈妈把孩子放回床上，然后坐在椅子上时，我开始让他们坐好. 当我注意到一些奇怪的事情时，我几乎要走出房间，给他们一些空间和时间来悲伤. I noticed Natalie’s chest moving up and down. 我站在那里看了她整整一分钟，因为我以为我疯了，只是看到了一些东西. But no, I wasn’t just seeing things.
Miraculously, she was breathing on her own.
I ran out of the room to find the doctor. “你会认为我疯了，”我说，“但是娜塔莉在自己呼吸，还有脉搏!!” The medical team ran back into the room in shock and disbelief. 网上博彩澳门银河给她接上了呼吸机和监护仪，开始稳定她的情况. 然后，网上博彩澳门银河联系了当地一家具备儿科重症监护病房能力的医院，并安排了运输. They also couldn’t believe this miraculous story!
By this point, I had stayed with the family way past the end of my shift, but I was committed to remain with them until Natalie left our department. While the air ambulance crew was getting the report and doing all their checks, the mother reached over to me and grabbed my hand. She looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, “I know God put you here today to be with me through this. I could not have gone through this day without you.” With tears rolling down my cheeks as well, I opened up to her a bit. 我说, “I don’t know why I was placed here today, but I do know a little bit how it feels when a family member drowns.” Enveloping me in the biggest hug, 她告诉我, “When Natalie recovers from this, I am bringing her back to see you. She will be walking!“我告诉她我希望是这样，我最喜欢的就是看到她走路. Shortly after, the crew loaded her up and took off.
A few days later our doctor got a call from the hospital where she was sent. 他们告诉他，事发几天后，娜塔莉已经睁开了眼睛，可以拔管了. The MRI also looked very promising! 接下来的一周，孩子的父亲打电话给网上博彩澳门银河的医生，告诉他娜塔莉的四肢都能活动了，并说了“爸爸”这个词。. 她开始了物理治疗，希望能尽快出院，去另一家能帮助她康复的机构.
I look forward to the day when I can see Natalie walking! 我知道她不知道我是谁，但她的生活已经并将永远影响着我. Emergency nurses look death in the face frequently, but it's rare when we see our efforts pay off or miracles happen. It is easy to become numb and jaded in this profession. 但这是我职业生涯中见到的第一个真正的医学奇迹，它给了我希望!
This experience reminded me of a piece of scripture, Psalm 77. The psalm starts with sadness and anguish towards God in times of trouble. 作者想知道上帝是否会再次出现，或者他是否会继续拒绝他. But about midway through, the writer changes his tone. 他记得网上博彩澳门银河的上帝是多么伟大，以及他为上帝和上帝的子民所做的一切神奇的事情. The writer is overwhelmed with God’s goodness!
I know in the world of health care, sad things happen all the time, 不幸的是，网上博彩澳门银河无法将地球上的每一个人从死亡的魔掌中拯救出来. 我也相信奇迹会发生——尽管我无法理解为什么奇迹发生在一些人身上而不是其他人身上. 但有一件事我知道是真实的，那就是网上博彩澳门银河的上帝是良善的，即使是在生活中的悲剧中, His goodness will overwhelmingly shine brighter in the end.
This is what brings me hope in my career as a nurse, as well as in my life.
*For the sake of privacy, names have been changed.
