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Dr. Ben Danielson... I had been an ER attg for < 2 yrs. My shift was over & I'd signed out to the attg relieving me (JR). I was finishing charts when the triage RN peeked her head into the now-thankfully-defunct "doctor's room" to grab the attg to look at a "maybe-sick" baby.
JR was on the phone w a pharmacy about abx eye drops of all things. CC was 4 mo w "clogged feeding tube." I went to the resus room to get things started, figured as soon as JR was off the phone I'd pass things over to him and drag my tired (& pregnant) ass home to bed.
Little muffin had sepsis, impending resp failure, multiple congenital anomalies and a thoughtful code status that included no intubation or CPR. But things went fast and when it came time to actually not do those things, the family was facing a doctor they didn't know or trust.
And their precious baby was dying. It was 0430. JR was off the phone by then but the team was set. We maxed out all non-CPR/non-intubation therapy and then I called their PCP: Ben Danielson. At 4:45 am. He knew them. He knew their sweet baby. They trusted him. We all do.
He talked to me. He talked to this little sweet one's parents. They hung up and there was calm. No CPR. No intubation. Comfort. Oxygen. Snuggles. Hope. About 45 minutes passed. Grandparents came. And then the mother gasped. I looked toward the hallway and saw Ben Danielson.
He never told any of us he was coming. He didn't have to come. He'd already shown up in ways above and beyond what most PCPs would have.. by answering a call at 4:45 am, by making sure his patient and their family got what they needed. And then he showed up. In the room.
Mother, father, nurse, grandmother, grandfather, me, and Dr. Ben Danielson. The 7 of us witnessed this precious life end peacefully around 6:45 am that morning. Ben has taught me so many things over the years. But that morning's lessons are in my bones. END
