A call came in to the emergency department; it was a mother who was terrified because her child was not breathing in the backseat of her car due to a febrile seizure. Janelle was the nurse in charge and took the call. The mother was panicking. Janelle told the mother that she needed to pull over and hang up right away to call 911. The mother told her "No, no, no I cannot stop, I am only two minutes away." Janelle, being a mother to three children of her own, understood and told the mother, "Ok, but you are staying on the phone with me until you get here." Janelle maintained her composure and with great skill and empathy she began asking the mother if there was anyone else with her. The mother stated that she had her eleven-year-old daughter in the backseat.
Janelle asked the child to tell her what the baby looked like because she needed to know if she had to coach the eleven-year-old through CPR. Luckily, at this point the child was breathing and CPR was not necessary. While remaining on the call, Janelle reassured the tearful mother. Janelle directed the mother to come to the ambulance bay and assembled a team to meet the frightened mother and her children at the door so that the baby could be taken to the trauma room quickly. I, as a nurse, am consistently inspired by Janelle; her knowledge, cool composure and compassion for her patients is second to none. There is a reason that she is a leader in our department and for one mother, she is definitely considered a hero.