A personal warning about Septic Shock

[Guest guest]

My dad went into the hospital on Wednesday, May 16, 2001 with a mild heart attack that required a heart catheter and the placement of 2 stints. He SHOULD have been well on his way to recovery, but my dad died on Saturday, May 26, 2001 due to Septic Shock. I noticed, along with my family, that the warning signs of Septicemia were presenting themselves (rapid heart beat, rapid breathing, incoherency, low blood pressure, fever, high white blood cell count, low urine output), but the nurses and doctors did not respond properly to our questions. My father was left lying in bed in a regular hospital room for 4 straight hours with a blood pressure of 70/40 before somebody finally moved him down to CCU. By then it was too late. I arrived shortly before the move and asked the nurse when he would be moved and her response was "I don't know, I have a headache right now and too many patients to take care of." Rage cannot express my feelings. Nothing can express my feelings. But let this be a warning to all of you to be SO SO VERY CAREFUL anytime you or a loved one are in the hospital. If you feel something is wrong, or just not right, SCREAM about it consistently until someone listens AND does something about it!!!!! Nothing will bring my father back, but if this helps just one person not suffer what he suffered, then his death will not have been totally in vain.

Kim