What is the hardest thing to do in the ER?

By far, for me, the hardest thing I have to do in the ER is tell a family that their loved one has died. 

Fortunately, this is not a common occurrence but on occasion a patient will pass away in the ER. This is made more difficult because usually I don’t have a previous relationship with the family and they don’t know me. The first time I meet them is to deliver this terrible news.

Quite often it involves an older patient and in some cases the family is expecting the news. The saddest cases are when the patient is young and no one is expecting such a drastic outcome. 

Probably one of the two saddest cases I was involved in was a 19-year-old man who had wrecked his motorcycle. In all likelihood the patient was dead on scene. 

Nevertheless, we worked on him for a long time doing everything we could but to no avail. I’ll never forget when I went in to talk to the family, as I began to speak, I realized the family thought the patient had only skinned his knee. They were laughing and joking about their “crazy” family member had “done it again.” 

I knew they were in no way prepared for the news I was about to deliver.  When I told them the awful news everyone began crying uncontrollably; including this doctor. Sometimes it’s hard to believe but doctors can be affected like anyone else by emotional circumstances.

While I may not have a previous relationship with a person or family, it can be very emotional to see someone in such pain. 

The other case is a story for another article. Believe it or not, it is too depressing to be included here. 

I hope this doesn’t bring everyone down. We will try something lighter on the next article. 

Send your questions to Dr Berry. 

David M. Berry, M.D.

(Dr. Berry is an emergency room physician at Tri-Lakes Medical Center. If you have questions you would like to ask Dr. Berry, send them c/o Box 1616, Batesville, MS 38606, or pub