I’m currently watching a series of videos to prepare for taking my ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support) and PALS (Pediatric Advanced Life Support) certification classes in one and half weeks. The most recent video was about teamwork when running a cardiac code.

I realized, this is one of the parts of my ED Tech job I really appreciated, not the medical side per se, but how, when you’ve got a well-oiled team that has worked together, you can make things run very smoothly.

During a cardiac code, there’s not much techs can do other than compressions or “bag” the patient (provide O2 through a BVM (Bag-Valve Mask). We can’t put in IV lines or push drugs, we can’t intubate the patient and we can’t shock them. But, those compressions are a key part of a code. We’re basically keeping the patient’s brain and heart (and other organs) perfused while the rest of the team can work their magic.

I’ve honestly lost track of how many patients I’ve done compressions on, but a fair number do stand out.

In one case, the patient was in our primary trauma bay when his heart suddenly stopped. We called a code blue and the nurse and I jumped in. She started to use a BVM to provide oxygen while I jumped up and started doing compressions. I recall thinking how natural it felt for us to be doing this. There wasn’t an unnecessary chatter or discussion. We just started doing what was necessary and once we started I counted compressions, would stop, she’d bag the patient, and I’d resume. Meanwhile like The Avengers, the rest of the team assembled. It was quick and efficient.

Another thing I appreciate, at least where I work is that they value everyone on the team. This was never more evident when I was precepting a new tech. In this case, I was basically showing him how we did things in the ED. I wasn’t really teaching him anything medical since he had a couple decades of experience as a paramedic and EMT, so his medical knowledge exceeded mine.

During this period, we had a patient go into cardiac arrest. He and I both did compressions while the rest of the team worked on him. Sadly, this patient didn’t make it. However, one thing that a good team leader does during an arrest is ask for ideas. They realize they’re human and they might have missed something. So, the attending here, one of my favorite attendings by the way, ran over what we had done to confirm we had done everything expected and then asked, “Any other suggestions?” My orient spoke up, “Is it possible he OD?”

The attending gave it a quick thought and replied, “no” and then explained why he had ruled that out as a correctable factor. It wasn’t a “who are you?” or “I don’t know you, you’re just a new tech”. He took the question seriously and gave a serious answer.

At the end of the day, we can’t save everyone. Hearts stop for a variety of reasons. But I’m proud of the team I’m member of and proud to know that we work well together and give it our best.

And that’s part of the reason I love my job as a tech.