Here's a sample from
CODE
BLUE:
“Who’s the internist on call?” Cathy asked.
Glenna didn’t look up. “Dr. Baker. Shall I call
him?”
Evan Baker, one of the doctors who had voted
with Harshman against her. Cathy didn’t want to
give him a chance to see her possibly make a
mistake, but protocol dictated that she call him
in. She hoped her diagnosis was right—not just
for Nix’s sake, but for her own. “Yes, just get
that medication running first.”
Cathy’s eyes were drawn to the cardiac monitor
as the pattern became more erratic, then the
complexes settled into a rapid rate of almost
two hundred beats per minute. Ventricular
tachycardia. At that rate, there wasn’t time
enough for the heart to fill and empty
efficiently. The coronary arteries would be
starved for blood. If she didn’t reverse it
quickly, Nix would die.
Glenna hurried in. “The ward clerk’s paging Dr.
Baker.”
“I need your help. Mr. Nix has gone into V-tach.
I’m going to try to cardiovert him.”
“Doctor, I don’t think you have privileges for
that.”
Cathy didn’t have time to argue medical
niceties. She had done three or four of these in
residency, always under supervision, always with
a cardiologist looking over her shoulder. Now
she needed an angel over her shoulder. Please,
God, let it work.