Clinical Scenario: You just walked away from an uneventful intubation to chart when your nurse tells you the patient is now hypoxic to the 70s.
Question 1: What are some things you're considering as you walk back into the patient's room?
DOPES!
D – displacement of ETT
O – obstruction of ETT
P – pneumothorax
E – equipment problem
S – stacked breaths
Question 2: What if the nurse told you that the patient became hypotensive (instead of hypoxic) when his BP was normotensive prior to the intubation?
AH SHITE!
A – acidosis / anaphylaxis
H – heart (tamponade, pulmonary hypertension)
S – stacked breaths
H – hypovolemia
I – induction agent
T – tension pneumothorax
E – electrolyte
Want to read more?
https://emcrit.org/racc/finger-thoracostomy/
https://emcrit.org/racc/origins-of-the-dope-mnemonic/
https://lifeinthefastlane.com/ccc/post-intubation-hypoxia/
http://rebelem.com/post-intubation-hypotension-the-ah-shite-mnemonic/