Reading EKGs, II – a scary situation, and a big save.
From www.icufaqs.org Mark Hammerschmidt, RN
The usual disclaimer goes here: this article is not meant to be an authoritative reference in any
way – instead, it’s supposed to reflect the thinking and experience of a couple of rather “over-
experienced” ICU nurses. Please check with your own local references and authorities on any
questions about our content – and let us know what you think!
Special thanks go out on this one to our latest guest editor, daughter #1, Nurse Ruth, RN, who
provided criticism, questions, comments, and patience with the project in general!
Here’s a really nice example of applied EKG-reading. This was a totally scary, unexpected, out-of-
the-blue situation, which we thought would go well as an example of what ICUs are all about.
The scenario was terrifying to start with, although pretty straightforward; young woman comes in
through the ER with an acute meningitis: the bad one, turned out to be neisseria meningitidis,
which kills at a mile unless treated absolutely as soon as possible. So: young person, not a
college student as sometimes happens, but who works in a popular coffee shop. She picks up the
big bad bug, which maybe had colonized some customer of hers without causing the disease,
and rapidly gets sick: complains of a headache to her roommate at about 5pm, and is found by
the roommate, incontinent of stool, at about 10 that night.
A side story: the roommate is a student from somewhere – Bolivia? They’re good friends – she
literally picks up the sick girl and washes her down in the shower, and then with the help of
another friend who also was here from somewhere on foreign exchange - Bulgaria? - the two of
them, with about 100 words of English between them, one of which isn’t 911, carry her down five
flights of stairs, flag down a cab, get in with her with the $25 that they have in the world, and
manage to say “hospital” to the driver, who brings them to us. One of the friends apparently
carr