A near-drowning patient arrives by ambulance. Pink foam comes out of his lungs, out of his nose. He coughs to clear it, gasps, gags, vomits repeatedly. The oxygen mask over his face panics him. You coax him into letting you replace it and keep it there. "This is oxygen. It’ll help."
But oxygen wasn’t enough for him. He had to be sedated, intubated (tube into lungs) and ventilated mechanically. Finally, after the intensive care unit and then several more days in the hospital, he was released. Emergency department staff were quite relieved to hear from his family that he left with no deficits, no apparent permanent damage.
That was a young and fit patient, who’d been pushed into a pool and pulled quickly out. He was cared for by paramedics on the way to the hospital. It only happened to him once. Still, he could have died. He could have been disabled. People worked for days to prevent that.
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