A strange night of call in Pediatrics - Part 1

I was Ward Chief in Pediatrics Wards last month. That meant that I did not have any night or weekends call (I know, great, isn't it?). My last day on service, I switched call with a colleague who desperately needed the time off. What a night it would prove to be...

1. We had a young teenager on the service that had transferred out of the Pediatric ICU just that morning. She had been admitted for a suicide attempt (not her first). She had ingested some sedatives and ADHD meds and we were monitoring her for side-effects, with the intention to transfer her to a mental health facility in the morning. She had been 'chaptered' -- meaning that a sheriff's department had activated Chapter 51 of Wisconsin state law: detention against one's will for declaring intent to harm oneself or another. Towards evening, she became irritable, wanting to do things she was not allowed to -- these restrictions being part of a suicide watch. The 'sitter' (person who sits in the room and watches the patient who is on suicide precautions) called for help. The patient had tried to wrap the curtain in the room around her neck and shouted "I want to die!". Nursing responded. Apparently, the patient had a history of explosive rage disorder -- something we were not familiar with. Unfortunately, we were about to find out. She 'lost it' and began screaming at the top of her lungs. She attempted to leave the room. Her nurse attempted to restrain her physically and was bitten, hit and kicked. There was pandemonium. I rushed in.

Okay, time-out.

Medically, here's the situation. She had ingested an amphetamine and a benzodiazapine (to those of you to whom this means anything). We were monitoring for side-effects of the ingestion -- heart arrythmias, respiratory distress, altered mental status. I had to make a decision: am I going to give Haldol (drug that could cause or summated with the previously ingested meds, precipitate a life-threatening cardiac arrythmia) or not?

Back to the scene.

I added my weight (literally) to the bodies trying to physically restrain this large teenage (who weighed more than some of the adults in the room). I made my decision: I called for Haldol and repeated the dose three times, including adding a sedative as well. Since the patient had chewed off her IV, all these meds were given intramuscularly. The needles did not add to the patient's state.

Within minutes, the patient was quietly asleep. No cardiac arrhythmias, no respiratory depression. Just calm. Our nurse was sent to the ER for antibiotics. We were all rattled.

Peds is usually a lovely place to be: there is a little Winnie the Pooh forest, and pictures of doggies, brightly colored beach balls, flowers and toys painted on the walls. Most of our patients are cute, cuddly and make you smile.

Fearful and tearful, mom stood behind the scenes. Grandma stood next to her with fire in her eyes. There would be long conversations with them afterward.