Anyone here had a near death experience?

[madison2000]

I once found a patient who had stopped breathing and I called the code. I was an aide at the time, so my role was pretty much done when all the doctors and nurses came rushing in. A few weeks later I was working and was very surprised to see that the same man was my patient again. But what was even weirder was that he remembered me calling the code and described it to me. He had no pulse or respirations at the time!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. I've heard of that happening

people who are unconscious and near or technically dead remembering details of their resuscitation that they couldn't have known, just as you said.

I've had mystical experiences, but not one involving my near death.

[madison2000]

2. He recognized me and I had never seen him "alive"

plus- he told me how scared I looked. His wife had grabbed me out of the hallway. I was on the wrong side of his bed to reach the phone so I called the code verbally. I was 19 and this was the first time I had been in the situation. When I called out for help a doctor came running into the room and did a thump on his chest right away-- he described everything to me. After that I read about the NDE. He said he had been resuscitated 5 times and had a NDE more than once. Not a relgious man, but not afraid of death any more. Very interesting.

[MuseRider]

3. I was an ICU nurse

and we were responsible for all codes in the hospital on the night shift. It does not seem to happen often but yes, some people do talk about it after. Often times it is very reassuring sometimes not so much.

We did have one lady who kept arresting. No matter what we did she kept arresting. The only thing that would pull her out of arrhythmia was a good, hard thump on her chest. We did this a few times and the next day she stopped coding and reported us for abuse. She seemed pretty out of it when she would code, I don't really know if this would fit into the near death scenarios you are taking about but it is kind of amusing.

[madison2000]

5. This patient had chronic obstructive lung disease which was irreversible

and I honestly am not sure why we kept resuscitating him. This was in the late seventies when some of the legal issues facing hospital patient care had not been as well defined as they are now. I remember that they even wrote "no heroics" in pencil on the chart to indicate DNR but it could be erased later!

Its interesting to think of someone actually "seeing" whats going on when its physiologically impossible through normal bodily functioning.

[MuseRider]

7. I HATED those

penciled in DNRs. I knew it was risky. A *walk slow code. I never paid attention to them because they were rarely the wish of the family or the patient. If someone wanted to live, no matter what, I was there to code them. It is a simple matter of it being their choice.

It has always been an interest of mine, all those strange goings on when life is supposedly slipping away or gone.

Your story is similar to my first experience. I was a phlebotomist before I went to nursing school and I walked into a room where an old man lay, not breathing. I had been to draw ABG's during codes before but had never discovered anyone like that. It felt really good to see him later. Old guy teetering around, happy to be alive.

[biscotti]

4. Something takes over

I had a reaction to penicillin. I knew immediately I was in trouble. I drove 10 miles to town to my doctors office in town. I barely made it there. They knew I was in bad shape when I stumbled through their door. They kept saying code, code. I could not talk, my air way had already closed. They laid me down, stuck something in my mouth. I just kept thinking if I keep my mind going I will make it. I heard them say I had no pulse, no blood pressure reading over and over. I put my mind in fast gear. I can remember pieces of the experience and that they kept shooting in a lot of Benadril.

[madison2000]

6. I guess its important to remember that the person who seems totally

out of it might be aware but unable to respond.

[djeseru]

8. My father told me his.

An auto accident in 1972 - he remembers mostly pain, voices and being aware of the ER. Then he remembers being able to look down and see a group of people working over a table and the complete lack of pain. Didn't mention how long it lasted, but a woman's voice speaking to him brought the pain slamming back into him. They did later tell him that he had no pulse/respirations at the time. My mom told me that after the accident, he began to check into metaphysical studies, astrology and out-of-body experiences. He also later told me that he tried to have another out-of-body experience, but it sort of scared him! He didn't try it again.

[madison2000]

9. Wow, thats really interesting

The idea that consciousness is separate from the body is appealing but not the sort of thing I'd want to experiment with!