franniefree
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family/lack of understanding - 2008/07/06 13:13
I just need to vent b/c I am so hurt & angry about an incident that occurred on the 4th of July. My brother & his wife, who have plenty of $$$, invited my 13 y/o daughter & me to their beach house for a few days. We were sitting at the edge of the water, right next to the lifeguard stand, when suddenly a women ran up to the lifeguard screaming, "Help me!" Although my RN license has been suspended for the past 3 years, my background for 23 years was Emergency Nursing, so I leapt up to start CPR on her 51 y/o husband...the 2 teengage lifeguards provided a face mask and were doing respirations; however, the man had collapsed in about a foot depth of ice-cold Atlantic ocean water, which was gruesomely washing over the stricken man's body & face...I momentarily stopped comressions as I called for assistance to move this 225 pound man onto dry sand, & continued CPR until the medics arrived w/defibrillator-I removed my tee shirt and brushed the sand/seaweed off his chest to make way for the electodes...anyway, the medics took the man to the local ER & I was unable to find out the outcome..the whole time I was doing CPR, his wife & teenage son were screaming/crying/holding on to me and pleading with me to "help my husband/father!" All this time, a huge crowd was gathered around the scene; the crowd dispersed when the medics took the man to the nearest ER. When it was over, my brother & his wife at first asked me, "do you think he's going to make it?" Then, all of a sudden, both my brother & sister-in-law seemed hell bent on getting me away and "hidden"..b/c they both seemed to think that I would get into trouble b/c I performed CPR WITHOUT A VALID NURSE'S LICNESE!! I assured them that there was something called "the Good Samaritan law," and that I had done no intentional harm-that ANY LAY PERSON COULD HAVE PERFORMED CPR...both seemed upset and unconvinced. Our 5 kids (my daughter, their 2 kids, and their kids' 2 friends, seemed impressed and interested and wanted to know more about what happened & what I did to try to help..) Much later, my daughter told me that when I first ran to help and started CPR, my sister-in-law said, out loud, "Do you think she knows what she is doing?" and my brother smiled, shrugged his shoulders, and said,"Who knows?"
I am finding myself refelcting on what happened and my role-and the fact that my license has been suspended for 3 years and I have been having an absolutely HORRIBLE time as a single parent with health problems/financial disasters b/c I do not get child support for my daughter and cannot make a living as a nurse...I feel so sad...was I wrong to help this stranger on the beach?
Post edited by: franniefree, at: 2008/07/06 13:14
Post edited by: franniefree, at: 2008/07/06 13:15
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| Sunday, 23 November 2008