r/emergencymedicine • u/[deleted] • Sep 27 '23

Advice How to cope with peds deaths

I worked my first peds arrest yesterday. He was under a year old. I can hear his family’s screams echoing in my head and see the defeat in my team when we called it. I know it’s part of the job we do, but it sucks and I know they don’t get easier. Does anyone have any advice or coping skills to offer? I could use it.

862 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

160 comments sorted by

View all comments

6

u/[deleted] Sep 27 '23

On a totally practical level for today- a little replaying is okay- any more than a few mins try to distract yourself. Tetris-angry birds-whatever

Try not to let the trauma imprint.

Talk to colleagues, they understand.

3

u/1701anonymous1701 Sep 27 '23

Seriously, the Tetris thing is pretty sound advise.

3

u/lazylady64 Sep 27 '23

Try not to let the trauma imprint. I'd not heard it said like that before. It really resonates with me. Very succinct yet incredibly profound. Thank you, that may become my new mantra.