r/emergencymedicine • u/Content-Ninja-2478 • Jan 22 '25

Advice First infant code

Had my first infant code the other day. Home birth that didn’t go well, 39 weeks, Nuchal cord, baby was grey at arrival, continued to work baby for approx 40ish mins, asystole the whole time. A very short moment of silence for babe and No debrief. I feel like the baby deserved more than that. I still feel sick about it. I called my hospitals counseling services and broke down.. I just wish we debriefed as a team, I know it’s busy in the ER and we have to pick up and move on but idk. I don’t even know if baby was boy or girl since it had a diaper on.. that also bothers me. This sucks

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u/NoncreativeScrub Jan 22 '25

There’s a nice little badge card out there called “The Pause”, used to have an attending that would take that time after each code. Basically a small litany that affirms the patient was a person who was loved, thanking everyone for their efforts in caring for them, and sets aside a moment for respect. You may want to speak to your director about passing that on to code leads.

40+ minutes is a long code, which makes it pretty easy to say they got the best chance they could get. Awful things happen for no reason, even to babies.

84

u/Intelligent-Hold-780 Jan 22 '25

Omg we had a pharmacist at my old hospital that would read The Pause! I loved that he did that!

40

u/petrichorgasm ED Tech Jan 22 '25

We have The Pause posted in our ED too and I'm so happy we do. If anything, it's good for us, the workers.

66

u/Illustrious-Day-9899 Jan 22 '25

One of our hospitals started this. I loved it so much. Really made me go “wow this is a person” after being a salty medic for a while.

14

u/triDO16 ED Attending Jan 24 '25

This is our Pause from residency, and I still use it now:

“Everyone let’s pause as a team. Before we leave the care of this patient let’s take a moment to stop as a group and honor the person that we’ve been caring for. (Name) is a person who had family and friends, he/she was loved and gave love, and was important to others. let’s take a moment to recognize that now and honor (name) with a moment of silence... (Wait 30-45 seconds.) Know that as individuals, and as a team, you put forth your best effort to give (name) his/her best chance. Even though (name) died, it does not mean we failed. Move on with your day, knowing that you were (name)’s best chance. Know that the next patient now needs you. Thank you for everything that you do, every day.”

12

u/ScoreImaginary ED Resident Jan 23 '25

Do you happen to have a link for a badge buddy with “the pause?”

6

u/NoncreativeScrub Jan 23 '25

I don’t know what the sub’s rule is for stuff like that, but searching for “The Pause badge card” should have it as the top result, or if you’re crafty and are able to laminate you can make your own version.

1

u/triDO16 ED Attending Jan 24 '25

I just copied the one I still use since residency on the parent comment of yours.