Do you ever have a day that seems completely normal that turns in to something crazy? I guess as a Mom and an ER nurse, I should always be expecting the unexpected. Well, yesterday was one of those days. I thought the most eventful part of my day was going to be some potty training success with Julianna (finally!).
We went to her last dance class in the morning. Those girls are so cute. I'm a little sad the session is over. After dance, Madelyn and I napped while Julianna played. I had worked until 3 am and gotten up at 8:15 to get ready for dance. I will not be sad about sleeping later on Tuesdays. We got lunch, then Julianna, Madelyn, and I made our way to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts for Julianna's art class. Julianna likes to walk around the statue garden, usually we go after class. We went before this time. We were early and the weather wasn't looking too promising. The theme this month is Impressionism. Julianna really enjoyed making her art. Anything that involves puddles of paint is good for that three year old! So far, this a typical Tuesday for us.
Class wraps up and Julianna wants to do two things: push the button to open the doors to get out and go look at the statues. Again. I start to say no to the statues, we've already been there, I was hoping to head home and catch a nap, and my car was parked on the opposite side of the museum. She asks again, I figure what the heck? We can make a quick pass by the statues and head home. We start making our way toward the statue garden, passing the patio with seating for the museum cafe. Julianna and I are chatting and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a man on the phone on the patio and a woman who didn't look so great. I took a few more steps, then turned back and asked him she was ok and if he needed help. I knew he probably wouldn't hear me. I walked back inside the museum, much to the dismay of Julianna, and asked the museum police officer how to get to the patio and told him there was a woman outside who didn't look so good. I made my way out there to check on her. I get there and ask the man if she's ok. I can tell by the way she looks that she is not. I tilted her head back and noticed her face looked a little blue. I check for a pulse. She doesn't have one. In "Mom voice" I tell Julianna to sit down, she does and finally stops asking me questions about what we're doing. I take Madelyn out of the Ergo and plop her down in Julianna's lap. I say to Julianna, "hold your sister." She does, at least for a few minutes. The museum police officer has followed me out, he helped me get the woman on the ground. He started doing chest compressions. I held her head back in an effort to keep her airway open. At some point, I tell them I am an ER nurse so they know I have at least a little bit of knowledge of what to do in this type of situation. Another museum police officer appears, I ask him if they have an AED. They do and I send him to get it. I take over CPR while they get it set up and the patches put on her. Miraculously, she was in a shockable rhythm. I backed away from her chest and made sure my children were far away. Julianna was still sitting where I asked her to sit and the man who was with the woman was keeping Madelyn from crawling off the patio. The shock got delivered about the time Richmond Fire and Richmond Ambulance crews got there. As soon as she was shocked, I got back to do CPR. One of the medics told me they had it under control, so I put Madelyn back in the Ergo and got Julianna and her art and we headed back inside. I felt like such a horrible mom, doing that in front of my three year old. What would she think? Did I just traumatize her? A man who saw what happened thanked me and I mentioned something about my worries about the girls. He said, "they saw their mom do a great thing today." I felt better about that. I knew for certain I couldn't just keep walking and do nothing.
I talked to Julianna about what happened. I told her that lady was very sick and Mommy needed to help her. She seemed ok with that response. She knows Mommy works at a hospital and helps people who are sick or hurt get better. Most of all, she wanted to go look at the statues and run down the hill. So we did. Zac asked her about things later. She told him that "the lady was very sick" and that there was something wrong with her boobies. I understand her perspective, I did rip the lady's shirt open and everyone she saw touch the woman had their hands on her chest. Julianna mentioned something about her today, just telling me, "the lady was very sick." I told her yes, she was sick, but there lots of people helping her get better.
I do wonder what the outcome was. I have more than enough EMS and ER experience to know that cardiac arrests on TV are nothing like cardiac arrests in real life and the likelihood of a good outcome is small. I'm still curious. I also learned that I can never stop being a nurse. I can't turn that part of me off when I leave work. Well, maybe I already knew that. It was just reinforced yesterday.
Oh yeah....Happy Nurses Week!
