It’s not often that staff in outpatient areas of UTMB must respond to a medical emergency.
But “not often” doesn’t mean never—as evidenced by just such an emergency that took place on Feb. 19 in Rehabilitation Services at the Primary Care Pavilion on the Galveston Campus.
At the Health System Leadership Team monthly meeting on Feb. 27, Director of Rehabilitation Services Shelley Ellison shared what happened when a physical therapy patient suddenly lost consciousness and started to fall forward onto the floor.
Ellison explained the situation and applauded the team that took quick action to save a life.
“There was a code, and in outpatient areas such as ours that is a very unusual occurrence, which makes this recognition even more stellar, in my opinion," Ellison said. "We had an 81-year-old patient who was actually resting after an ambulatory exercise. Her vitals had been taken. She had already given some positive, subjective comments about how she was feeling, but it was noticed that she just spontaneously lost consciousness and started to fall forward onto the floor.”
A number of UTMB staff raced to assist the woman, easing her gently to the floor, quickly assessing her condition, calling for assistance and calling 911, Ellison said.
“Respiratory came over and started compressions, AED was applied and monitored. The other staff managed the area because as you can imagine in a busy gym there were a lot of people there, so we managed the gym and made sure there was clear access for when the ambulance came in,” she said.
After four rounds of CPR, the patient regained consciousness, was responsive as she was being wheeled to the ambulance, was admitted to the emergency room and has since been discharged, Ellison said.
What’s remarkable is that the rehab team doesn’t train for emergencies like this.
“What was so stellar for our team is that we don’t do a simulation, we don’t practice this. We provide education, but having that team be able to assess, communicate, collaborate, coordinate and get it done was really an amazing feat,” Ellison said, pointing out specific staff members who rushed to help.
They are:
- Cathy Elton, the physical therapist who was treating the patient at the time
- Amanda Johnson, a physical therapist who was treating a patient adjacent to her
- Austin Johnson, a physical therapy assistant and also an EMT, who applied and monitored the AED
- Tyler Morrison, an exercise physiologist and also an EMT, who was on hand to assist in relief compressions
- Jocelyn Orellana, an exercise physiologist in cardiac rehab, who initiated compressions
- Andrea Sexton, senior respiratory therapist, who made sure that the patients that were in the cardio pulmonary area remained safe during the event
- Amber Deck, physical therapy assistant, who ran to notify the pulmonary staff
- Petra Benavides, senior rehab aide, who saw and assisted the patient to the floor, called 911 and met the ambulance at the entrance of the building
“We’ve had Petra in the department for many, many years,” Ellison said. “She's always been awesome, and this was no exception.”
Wayne Keathley, executive vice president and chief operating officer, Clinical Enterprise, and others in the meeting shared Ellison’s enthusiastic recognition of the team, reiterating that an emergency like this isn’t something one would expect in that setting.
“I've been over there a few times, and it's not the kind of place we expect something like this,” Keathley said. “Everybody there is on the road to recovery. It's kind of a normal space, and it's more lighthearted than you would expect in a health care setting.
"So for something like this to happen, I'm sure it was shocking for everybody,” he added. “And yet it was sort of like a seamless response,” he said. “That doesn't surprise me. I've seen that group in action.”