I used to take care of a lot of patients that had the same procedure done that I had just went through.

One patient that I took care of had an angioplasty done. No stents placed in those ancient days. The sheath used to stop the bleeding at the artery in the groin, came dislodged and blood spurted everywhere. I grabbed an handful of ABD bandages, opened the packages and put about 12 over the artery and pressed as hard as I could to hold pressure on the groin. I yelled for help and some of the nurses called the special procedures lab for assistance. They had a special team to come and help out in situations like that. By the time they got there, the bleeding had stopped and the bandages were soaked through and through. My hands were solid red from all the bleeding. When the team relieved me, my hands and arms were so numb from puttting so much pressure on the wound that I thought I would never have feeling in my hands again. When I washed my hands, they were so white from the pressure that I held on his groin.

I shutter to think what would have happened if I had not been there at his bedside when that happened.

One of the patients in the cubicle next to me in the specials lab had the same thing happen to her. She just had a heart cath and her dressing was removed because she was being discharged to go home. She got up and went to the bathroom and the clot at the groin broke loose. The nurses were very quick and efficient and quite with their care of her. They had the bleeding checked in no time but the patient had to stay another 6 hours flat on her back.