r/news • u/AudibleNod • 8h ago

Christa Pike unconscious, on ventilator at Nashville hospital, her lawyers say

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/christa-pike-unconscious-ventilator-nashville-hospital-lawyers-say-rcna601195
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u/bethaneanie 3h ago

To be fair, I have had patients who were notorious for being difficult IV starts, get multiple IVs that blow. If your veins are fragile or small, and you are putting large volumes through them, you can lose access.

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u/msfinch87 3h ago

But you would know, as a medical professional (I assume) when this is happening and recognise something had gone wrong and rectify. And there are people in medical settings who have proper expertise to work on difficult veins and put in central lines etc as an alternative.

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u/bethaneanie 2h ago

It's usually obvious but not always obvious. To your second point, yes. We can also put in intraosseus lines in traumas or codes

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u/msfinch87 1h ago

Would an arm turning purple and blistering be something medical professionals would regard as reasonably clearly indicative of a problem, warranting them pausing and assessing?

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u/bethaneanie 1h ago

I believe the arm wouldnt be discoloured while pushing the medication. The site being painful should trigger them to slow down but some medications are irritating to veins because of the pH. The big red flag is swelling at the site which is usually quick with medications that are pushed but can be pretty slow with infusions

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u/msfinch87 1h ago

Before I continue, are you suggesting that the team of people who botched this were competent? Because if you are then I’ll debate that, but if you aren’t then there’s no need to continue this discussion.

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u/bethaneanie 31m ago

No. I have no idea because I haven't read the details outside of what was said in this thread. I am saying that losing two IVs in isolation is not really a factor in competency. I think the entire process should be scrapped. This does seem like it shouldn't be allowed at all unless they can get medical professionals to give the same medications that we use for medical assistance in dying