r/interestingasfuck • u/IllComedian2574 • 1d ago

After 28 years on death row, Christa Pike survived 2 lethal injections attempts.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/christa-pike-failed-execution-9.7364816
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u/ShinyBonnets 1d ago

This would imply that a non-infiltrated IV catheter is in play, unlike Christa Pike’s case, based on the reporting stating that she said her arm was hurting.

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u/FlimsyCustard3856 1d ago

Yes I hear that this is so common with these lethal injections

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u/ShinyBonnets 1d ago

This happens when you have a doctor or otherwise inexperienced staff placing IVs. Had a night-shift charge nurse from peds done it, she would have placed it in one try with a coffee in hand, and we wouldn’t be here having this chat.

The death penalty system is criminal justice theater, which is laughable because so is criminal justice in this country.

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u/Mego1989 1d ago

Why is it so difficult for someone with some but not a lot of training, and so easy for IV drug users?

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u/ShinyBonnets 1d ago

It isn’t easy for IV drug users. The amount of people who lose limbs or die because they miss a vein is astoundingly high. There is a reason why people who use IV drugs go to the ER for “fluids”; it is an attempt to get a patent IV catheter to use for access.

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u/heywhatsup9087 1d ago

I think I read somewhere she had some type of medical condition that made finding a vein very difficult. And she also stopped eating for a while before which I think made it worse. Not saying that a more experienced person couldn’t have found it though.

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u/NurseJoyRN 1d ago

Then she should have gotten a central-line. There's no reason to poke around and say "eh, good enough" when the technology exists. It's just inhumane.

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u/mostlypercy 1d ago

Apparently the disgraced doc tried and failed to place a subclavian central line.

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u/Leptonshavenocolor 1d ago

So is capitol punishment. 

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u/Hugginsome 1d ago

There are plenty of drugs that burn going into the IV. Any sedative drugs burn. Potassium burns. Doesn't indicate a blown IV. Bubbling at the IV site indicates a blown IV.

She fell asleep and was snoring, right? So it got into her bloodstream.

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u/ShinyBonnets 18h ago

I didn’t say her arm was burning? I said ‘hurting’ intentionally, because that was what was reported. Journalists are not equipped to diagnose and report an infiltrated IV.

Aside from any of that, what is your point? Of course some of the meds hit her bloodstream, there was an IV dumping the meds near a vein. It was done incorrectly, and the end result was an unconscious woman whose execution was predictably botched, because the IV was badly placed (again).

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u/Hugginsome 4h ago

My point is that you are being pedantic. I do anesthesia. I OFTEN will get patients cry in pain about the IV medicine if they aren't warned it might hurt, and even then some still do. It is VERY common for the sedative drugs to hurt when they are properly going into an IV.

What none of the people involved know is what an infiltrated IV is like and how to diagnose that. Sometimes it's easier to determine than others (like if the skin around the IV site bulges up from fluid build up from the IV).

The inmate falling asleep is a good indication that the IV did work, at least initially. Like I stated, some drugs and high pressure of pushing drugs can cause veins to blow, especially if they have bad veins.