Hurrying to the entrance doors as the gurney carrying Tim McKinley was wheeled in, Dixie was shocked to find Johnny standing on the side of the gurney performing chest compressions. "Take him into 2," she ordered, hurrying ahead to hold the examination room door open as the gurney was wheeled inside.
"He suffered another seizure just as we were pulling in and then went into full respiratory and cardiac arrest." Johnny explained to Dr Brackett and Dr Early breathlessly as he quickly stepped off the side of the gurney as it reached the edge of the examination bed. Stepping around the gurney, as Tim was transferred across to the bed, Johnny began doing the chest compressions again.
"Were there any warning signs before he collapsed?" Brackett asked, distractedly, quickly running his hands over Tim's head as a nurse quickly cut Tim's shirt away before hooking him up to the heart monitor while Dixie wheeled the defibrillator closer and Dr Early inserted an esophageal airway before grabbing the ambu bag and forcing air into Tim's lungs, breathing for him.
"No, nothing." Johnny answered, trying to ignore the cramps that had were beginning to make his arms shake and were now starting to tighten his stomach and back muscles as he concentrated on continuing the chest compressions.
Brackett frowned as he turned and accepted the defibrillator paddles, holding them out as Dixie squirted the gel onto them as he ordered, "Let's start at 260 watts."
Dixie nodded as she set the machine, turning back as Brackett placed the paddles against Tim's chest, and hearing the beep that told him the defibrillator was ready to use, he called, "Clear!" Waiting a second while everyone took a step back and lifted their hands to show that they were clear of the patient, he depressed the button on the paddles sending a surge of electricity through Tim's chest causing the young paramedic to arch slightly up off the bed before falling back down motionless. Glancing up at the heart monitor, Brackett sighed, "Nothing, let's try again." as the green blip on the heart monitor momentarily jumped before dropping back down and going across the screen in a continuous flat line.
Stepping back to the edge of the bed, Johnny tiredly began to do CPR again, attempting to ignore the cramps that were beginning to spread through his body. He jumped when he felt someone stop him and pull him back from the table and he realized that, somehow, he had not heard Brackett call clear as Brackett sent another bolt of electricity surging through Tim's lifeless body away. He watched as Tim's body arched off the bed again before falling back against the bed as the continuous, long beep of the heart monitor that seemed to echo through his head told him that the jolt of electricity had not worked. Johnny shook his head as the room and all the noise, lights and coordinated activity surrounding Tim started to close in on him.
"Okay, let's try some Epinephrine," Brackett ordered, glancing up when Johnny did not begin the CPR again. He frowned as he found him staring at the dark-haired paramedic who appeared to be just standing beside the examination room bed in a daze, before he glanced over at Dixie and ordered, tilting his head towards the dark-haired paramedic, "Dix, get him out of here!' before turning to the other nurse and ordering, "Nurse, Epinephrine…"
Dixie ignored the rest of Brackett's order as she stepped around to the side of the examination table where Johnny was standing, staring at his temporary partner on the bed. "Hey Johnny, how about we go outside and grab some fresh air." She jumped, shocked, when Johnny suddenly tensed up, emitting a small strangled moan of pain as she gently grabbed his elbow before he collapsed onto the floor in front of her and began to convulse uncontrollably.
"Johnny!" Dixie gasped in surprise as she dropped to her knees beside the convulsing paramedic and tried to roll him onto his side.
Casting a quick, worried glance towards the downed, convulsing paramedic and Dixie as he waited for the defibrillator to charge, Kel looked back at Joe as he asked, "Joe?"
"I've got him!" Joe answered as he allowed the nurse to take over control of the ambu-bag and hurried across to the examination room door, before opening it and calling out, "We need a gurney and some more help in here!" Turning around, confident his yell for assistance would be answered, he hurried back to where Dixie was trying to keep Johnny on his side as she attempted to take his pulse, Joe quickly lowered himself down to his knees next to the flailing paramedic and asked, "Dix?"
"I don't know, Joe, he appears to be suffering from some type of a grand mal seizure but…" The senior nurse shook her head, ignoring the medical staff who were racing into the room and the gurney that suddenly appeared beside her as she nodded down at tears were running freely down Johnny's cheeks and at panicked and terrified look in Johnny's painfilled, opened eyes as his body violently shook uncontrollably, "I think he's fully conscious and aware what is happening to him, Joe. Pulse is 130, he's cyanotic, respirations are 10 and shallow."
"Let's get him started on some oxygen and start an IV, normal saline, and let's give him 5 mgs of Diazepam intravenously," Joe ordered as Dixie nodded and quickly got up to gather the requested items.
"Joe?"
Joe looked up as Mike Morton hurried into the room.
"Mike, I think I've got things covered here but Joe needs a hand with Tim!" he told the young intern as Dixie returned with everything he had requested and knelt back down on the floor beside him. Returning his attention back to the convulsing paramedic on the floor as Mike hurried across to assist Brackett with Tim, Joe slipped the oxygen mask onto Johnny's face as Dixie prepared the requested IV. Reaching down to restrain Johnny's flailing arm, he managed to pin it to the floor as Dixie inserted the IV, taping it securely down before carefully injecting the diazepam into the IV tubing. Turning around to the two orderlies who were silently standing behind him, he ignored the continuous, high pitched heart monitor alarm through the small room and Kel's tense and worried order of "Let's try one more time!" as he issued his own order of, "Okay, let's get him onto the gurney and into another treatment room."
