VA nurse rescues Veteran in trouble
Sometimes doing a good job isn’t good enough. There are other times when even more effort is needed. For Matt Rankin, a Registered Nurse in the Home Care Program, his extra effort . . . his extraordinary effort . . . was needed to reach a Veteran in crisis, and it probably saved a Veteran’s life.
A few weeks ago, a Veteran was in the Emergency Department was having some problems. It wasn’t clear to the caregivers if the Veteran was taking his medications correctly and if he was being provided appropriate care.
When the Veteran was released, Matt was assigned to follow up.
“I got the consult, to help him set up his medicines,” said Matt “I tried to call him in the first couple days but couldn’t reach him. That’s not unusual. But I was concerned and did a home visit.”
Matt arrived mid-morning and gave a knock on the door of the 82-year-old Veteran.
The response Matt received through the locked door gave him chills.
“Help, my wife’s dead,” the Veteran shouted.
Matt immediately called police and they called fire department. They arrived in a few minutes.
“We knew he was in distress,” Matt said.
The group was able to access the house through an unlocked window where Matt and the first responders found the wife was deceased, lying on the floor.
The Veterans was also on the floor. He was unable to get up and couldn’t get to a phone.
“I do a lot of home visits,” Matt said. “It is uncommon to find a Veteran in this position. Who knows what would have happened? He had no family members to check on him.”
The group got the Veteran to the hospital where he is recovering well, regaining his strength, and will soon receive the long-term care that he has earned and deserves.
“Lucky we made a home visit on that day. Lucky that he was still alive, said Matt. “We found out the Veteran does have a son but didn’t talk with him much. Now they seem to have reconciled somewhat, so that is a good outcome from this situation.”
Matt’s display of extraordinary effort was the difference between an outcome that would almost certainly have been tragically different, and a rescue that likely saved a life.
Sometimes doing a good job, just isn’t’ good enough.