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J U LY 2 0 1 4 | S U P P L E M E N T T O O U T P AT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E
T
he mock codes at Mercy Hospital in
Portland, Maine, were simply good
practice until the end-tidal CO
2
of a
relatively healthy 54-year-old man
undergoing routine shoulder surgery
began to rise. Minutes later, he was in the midst of a
fulminant malignant hyperthermia episode. The sur-
gical team assembled bedside in seconds, estab-
P A T I E N T S A F E T Y
5 Keys to
Managing MH
Daniel Cook
Executive Editor
Rhonda
Abbott
QUICK DRAW Seconds count
when treating patients stricken
with malignant hyperthermia.
The potentially fatal disorder
can strike at any time.
Are you prepared to save a life?
lished extra IV access,
started mixing dantro-
lene and ultimately res-
cued the patient.
Later, the surgical
nurses told Theresa
Clifford, MSN, RN,
CPAN, that the entire
scene played out as they
had rehearsed. "A nurse
even retrieved the MH
cart before anyone called
for it because she recog-
nized what was happen-
ing," says the hospital's
nurse manager of periop-
erative services and the
nurse liaison for special
projects of the American
Society of
PeriAnesthesia Nurses.
"The entire team knew
exactly what to do and
when to do it. That
helped save a life that
day."
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