“Is he a code or not?” shouted the cardiology fellow.
“Partial code, no intubation,” answered the nurse. Faces frowned and breaths were sighed. Leonard was a 77-year-old man with widely metastatic colon cancer. Nearly everyone agreed that it would be better to forgo resuscitation and let him die.
“Okay, bag him with the mask, get a central line started, and continue compressions.”
Thirty minutes later, spontaneous respirations and a heart rhythm had been restored. He was transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU) for further care; however, concern arose as to the possibility of anoxic encephalopathy. Soon his family arrived, and a family meeting was hastily arranged.