Wednesday, 6 AM. Time to hear about the new admissions before rounds. An infant was found unresponsive in his crib. He was pulseless at the referring hospital. He needed 30 minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation to recover his circulation before transport to our pediatric intensive care unit.
I go examine him. He is tiny, handsome, and motionless. He breathes irregularly over the ventilator. His pupils do not react to light. He does not withdraw from pain. His parents, crestfallen and scared, look to me for information. I am told they do not speak English, and the Arabic interpreter does not arrive until 8 AM.