A professional who tries to do his job but finds himself at the center of a controversial story, where philanthropy and willingness to help can be counterproductive, as in the case of Giuseppe Lorusso and his “mission” in the medical emergency room.
History
Last Saturday, outside of working hours, he receives a phone call from Candela’s 118, which did not have a nurse on board. A red code that required maximum urgency and the presence of a doctor to try to revive a patient with the beginning of a heart attack. Lorusso does not hesitate a second and runs to the reported location to provide any help. Since there are no emergency doctors, Lorusso felt obliged to intervene. Among other things, the ambulance was not equipped (due to a fault) with the electrocardiographic device, which despite the operators’ reports had not yet been put into operation. The patient is stabilized and the worst is averted, but the story of a rescue with a happy ending does not end there, indeed the misadventure for Lorusso begins.
The story
A story of emergency and health services to be retrained that also ends with a mockery for the emergency doctor. “When I arrived on site, not only was the electrocardiogram missing but also the nurse. Therefore, I had to administer drugs convinced of the diagnostic hypotheses”, says Lorusso who adds “After the arrival of the ambulance from Ascoli Satriano with the nurse on board, the route was started where the patient is centralized towards the hospital. Given the poor telephone reception, I decide to get on board the ambulance and provide my service to the patient, but when I arrive in Foggia the mockery occurs. The operations center (which had asked me to intervene) and the union scolded me, reminding me that this is not my job”.
The conclusion
The medical guard is called to verify the white and green codes, but this should not prevent a doctor (in an obviously difficult situation) from intervening to safeguard a human life. «I’m not interested in praise or merit notes, I try in my own small way to fully respond to the oath I made when I decided to become a doctor. My greatest honor is to see a patient healed. I would do it all again, because life exists beyond protocol.”
