Chase E. Silkey
December 2023
Chase E.
Silkey
,
RN
Cardiovascular Surgery/Heart Transplant ICU
Mayo Clinic - Rochester
Rochester
,
MN
United States

 

 

 

He was thinking ahead at all times. He was not just reacting but trying to calculate what needed to happen next, who needed to be there to attend to my dad and keep him alive.
My dad had a triple bypass at St Marys. We encountered such wonderful people at the hospital. Everyone was helpful, and I mean everyone. My dad was doing fantastic when Chase went to remove the tubes from my dad’s neck. He proceeded to go unresponsive. Chase was decisive and commanded the situation by asking for help and stating who he needed in the room specifically. They were bagging my dad, and he started to come to, but his left side was not responsive, which led Chase to think it might be a stroke. He acted quickly with the help of an entire team to get my dad to X-ray and neurology. Neurology cleared him and said he did not suffer a stroke. I'm not sure what happened, but my dad was talking, and his right and left sides were fine. The first medical emergency wrapped up when my dad could not breathe. He was gasping for air, Chase again knew he had to get dad out of there and back to the room, alerted pulmonology. Both his lungs were not inflating. There was air in pockets outside his lungs putting pressure on the lungs. Pulmonary doctors came in and did an ultrasound- the air was gone, nowhere to be found. Lungs were inflating on their own again. Second medical emergency within 1 1/2 hours. Both were unexplained and corrected on their own. But it was Chase who expedited the care. He was thinking ahead at all times. He was not just reacting but trying to calculate what needed to happen next, who needed to be there to attend to my dad and keep him alive.

When I expressed my thanks to Chase, he was very humble and said several times - we are a team. He was shadowed by a new RN to the floor, and he went over every step with her of what happened, what to do, and why. He asked doctors and other people on the floor what he could learn from this, what he could have done differently to avoid this or take care of it differently; always willing to learn. He is a team player and an asset to St Marys. He continued to praise all members of the team he works with. I was so impressed with all the staff there. I cannot thank St Mary’s enough for having a culture that is so uplifting and caring. Thank you to Chase.