Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Group
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem, autoimmune disorder. It is a disabling and painful condition which can lead to substantial loss of mobility due to pain and joint destruction. The disease is also systemic in that it often also affects many extra-articular tissues throughout the body including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and...
So I will try to make this short and sweet. I have only been back to work after maternity leave for about 7 months now. I work in the disability field with mentally handicapped individuals in group homes. The other night we took all the clients out for their xmas party dinner at a restaurant here in town. We were all enjoying dinner out when one of the clients (82years old) started to choke on her food. I jumped up, ran around the table and said 'I have up to date cpr, get out of my way and let me do the heimlich'.
My collegue reacted by getting between the client and I and removing her to the bathroom, where she proceeded to give back blows (HARD) for about 15 min. I could not leave the other clients unattended so I yelled at a waitress to follow her to the bathroom. When my collegue returned from the bathroom with the client (still having labored breathing and spitting up muccousy crap) I said 'call 911 now!'. I was ignored. So I told the waitress to call 911.
My collegue stepped in and told the waitress not to and said she just wanted to take the clients home and call nursing. I FREAKED and said AGAIN to call 911. Instead she called nursing who told her to call 911 right away.
When the ambulance showed up I jumped in with the client and went to emerg with her. When I got there I told them what happened and the doc flipped out about the back blows and looked at her back first. She already had massive bruising all over. The first test they ran was xrays to make sure there were no broken bones (luckily the bruising was the worst of it, nothing was broken).
Next they gave her something to relax her esophagus and tried to get her to sip some water....she couldn't, and started to vomit. So they did an endoscope (surgery where they put you under and send a scope down your throat to see what the problem is). She had food backed up in her throat from weeks prior...it was awful! Apparently her esophagus muscles stopped working due to trauma...and no one knew this. So now she is on pureed food (no regular food ever).
Anywayyyyy...point of my story is that I am horrified at this other staffs reaction to this event. I can't believe that she wouldn't let me do PROPER first aid/cpr procedure. I am angry that she took this client into the bathroom (what if something had happened in there ie: client passing out) by herself, and I am livid about the back blows (which are no longer recommended at all) which left bruising all over this 82 year old woman. She is sore, in pain and suffering for no reason. The doc even said he thought that the back blows had been done before (and recently) and that was likely why the food was stuck in her esophagus.
I am enraged at the whole thing and would like advice about how to deal with this without getting fired over it or pissing my collegue off to badly ( I do like her). HELP!
My collegue reacted by getting between the client and I and removing her to the bathroom, where she proceeded to give back blows (HARD) for about 15 min. I could not leave the other clients unattended so I yelled at a waitress to follow her to the bathroom. When my collegue returned from the bathroom with the client (still having labored breathing and spitting up muccousy crap) I said 'call 911 now!'. I was ignored. So I told the waitress to call 911.
My collegue stepped in and told the waitress not to and said she just wanted to take the clients home and call nursing. I FREAKED and said AGAIN to call 911. Instead she called nursing who told her to call 911 right away.
When the ambulance showed up I jumped in with the client and went to emerg with her. When I got there I told them what happened and the doc flipped out about the back blows and looked at her back first. She already had massive bruising all over. The first test they ran was xrays to make sure there were no broken bones (luckily the bruising was the worst of it, nothing was broken).
Next they gave her something to relax her esophagus and tried to get her to sip some water....she couldn't, and started to vomit. So they did an endoscope (surgery where they put you under and send a scope down your throat to see what the problem is). She had food backed up in her throat from weeks prior...it was awful! Apparently her esophagus muscles stopped working due to trauma...and no one knew this. So now she is on pureed food (no regular food ever).
Anywayyyyy...point of my story is that I am horrified at this other staffs reaction to this event. I can't believe that she wouldn't let me do PROPER first aid/cpr procedure. I am angry that she took this client into the bathroom (what if something had happened in there ie: client passing out) by herself, and I am livid about the back blows (which are no longer recommended at all) which left bruising all over this 82 year old woman. She is sore, in pain and suffering for no reason. The doc even said he thought that the back blows had been done before (and recently) and that was likely why the food was stuck in her esophagus.
I am enraged at the whole thing and would like advice about how to deal with this without getting fired over it or pissing my collegue off to badly ( I do like her). HELP!
BTW, they gave her glucagon which is a smooth muscle relaxant. It is often given for esophageal blockages. Also, not that your reaction was inappropriate, but abdominal thrusts would not likely have relieved the blockage. Any time an airway obstruction is indicated, 9-1-1 should be called. They can always cancel if your assumption is wrong.
Good luck with that.
My advice is to document everything that happened, for yourself and if someone tries to threaten you or fire you, you can fight back ...as far as talking to your boss, I would do it, but I would caution you to just be careful the way you phrase it, like don't make accusations or name calling, for example. State the facts, not your opinions. And be respectful, not emotional as much as possible.
I say this b/c in my experience I have found that I am taken seriously and treated with more respect when I do it that way.
I learned the hard way with bosses and anyone in authority , if you are name calling or showing anger it will backfire on you.
Good luck with it; I think you should not have to worry if you keep those things in mind.
My husband has Alzheimers and has similar problems swallowing.
I don't know what you meant by "her espophagus muscles stopped working due to trauma" but what I do (and don't) know about my husband is , his swallowing problems might be due to the Alzheimers or it may be likely due to GERD or some other cause, of scarring/narrowing of the esophagus which I recently found out is kind of common in elderly people, to have that narrowing. When he can't swallow food, by the way, he also cannot swallow water, either and also throws it up. I imagine it , too, is from backed up food.
Sadly , in my husbands' case, as I was preparing to send him to have a follow up about it, he was arrested. He is now in jail and it is an extremely horrific and sad story.
Since we are off topic , this is being purged from me.
He is in there because he hurt someone who was attacking him and his dog.
I don't mean to take away from your situation ; really intended to just share the part about the swallowing that I recently learned.
A relative's elderly aunt, had gone to the doctor to get her esophagus stretched (dilated) for this problem when it occured to me, that is what my hubby probably needs.
I had taken him to a couple doctor's and they gave him GERD medicine "to see if it helps".
:(
One last thing about the CPR, I know when I took a class for that a few years back , we were told if someone we try to help has family members around, to ask them for permission first, b/c sadly, sometimes Good Samaratins are held legally responsible for injuries when performing CPR.
I would think it would have to be a very mean person who would take someone to court for trying to help save their loved ones' life, but that is my opinion.
Even so , I'd do it anyway. And did , too. Not CPR, but I got involved in a domestic dispute and came to the aid of a young woman..( I called 911 and kept her husband off of her as she lay unconscious in the middle of traffic )
I also recommend you look for a local council on aging or a state agency on elder care.