No words
I know I can't do the remainder of this weekend justice with my words here. I don't think there are any words to fully describe Saturday night. I started in triage. No big deal. Not busy, not even steady. At 2300 we were told there were multiple aircraft inbound. No specifics, they just needed another nurse. It turns out that a man had walked into his family home, shot his wife in the head, his 10 year old boy in the head and an 11 year old daughter in the chest. Thats all we knew at the time. As the team got organized and prepared to wait we wondered what the hell else had happened? The boy arrived, intubated and unconscious. I saw his wound (point blank with a .22 to the right temple) and his CT (catastrophic).
While we waited for the rest of the family to arrive, multiple other traumas rolled in. 2 from an MVC with crazy bad ortho injuries and a woman with a partially ruptured dialysis graft. There were also 2 stab wounds one who was sexually assaulted prior to being stabbed.
Mom and another daughter showed up and more of the story was brought to light. After dad shot the 3 family members, he proceeded to rape a 13 year old daughter before turning the gun on himself. After he shot himself, the 13 year old picked up the gun and finished off the clip into her father.
I mentioned what it was like watching the death of a family the night before. This was just as awful. There was something in the air this weekend that was just wrong. All of the staff pulled together, but it obviously took a toll on everyone. Saturday night there were over 20 traumas. People were physically and mentally exhausted. Is there support for the staff after a weekend like that?
Nope
While we waited for the rest of the family to arrive, multiple other traumas rolled in. 2 from an MVC with crazy bad ortho injuries and a woman with a partially ruptured dialysis graft. There were also 2 stab wounds one who was sexually assaulted prior to being stabbed.
Mom and another daughter showed up and more of the story was brought to light. After dad shot the 3 family members, he proceeded to rape a 13 year old daughter before turning the gun on himself. After he shot himself, the 13 year old picked up the gun and finished off the clip into her father.
I mentioned what it was like watching the death of a family the night before. This was just as awful. There was something in the air this weekend that was just wrong. All of the staff pulled together, but it obviously took a toll on everyone. Saturday night there were over 20 traumas. People were physically and mentally exhausted. Is there support for the staff after a weekend like that?
Nope
posted by jeepgirl at 00:31
3 Comments:
OMG. What makes a father come home and do something so horrible to his entire family. Sounds like a horrible and dreadful night. You're right. There often isn't enough support for staff that are struggling through a tough shift. Especially on weekend nights.
wow, simply wow!
I hope there are no charges against the young girl for finishing the clip - that was justified!
I worked a night where a man killed himself, his lover and 3 of her 4 children. Then set the house on fire. Our debriefing was more than a week later, after we'd all worked numerous additional shifts. The debriefing was useless....and I still have trouble sleeping at night.
I'm dismayed at the lack of support hospital staff receive when they go through something this horrific. And people wonder why we're jaded and burned out.
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