‘i Nearly Died When A Doctor Gave Me An Adrenaline Overdose – I’ll Never Get Over It’

A woman who nearly died after a doctor mistakenly gave her 10 times the recommended dose of adrenaline has said she may never get over her trauma.

Rachael Emes, 47, suffered a heart attack and epileptic seizures as a result of the incident at Watford General Hospital four years ago.

She was admitted to hospital following a reaction to an antibiotic that had previously been prescribed to her. She needed an extended stay in intensive care after being wrongly given an intravenous (IV) dose of adrenaline only five minutes after an initial dose by injection.

Adrenaline given via IV should only be done by a senior consultant, or under their supervision.

A serious incident report by West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust found that a junior doctor who administered the 20ml dose – 10 times the advised 1 or 2mls – had “panicked” after Rachael’s reaction to the medication and after initial dose of adrenaline failed to have an effect.

The toll on her life

As a result of the incident, which medics conceded could have been fatal, Rachael – a grandmother to 10-month-old Nelly and mother-of-two – says the impact on her life has been “massive”.

She struggles to work due to fatigue and is haunted by the events of that day in March 2021 – but while she has been told she needs counselling to deal with her ordeal, she cannot access it via the NHS and has to fund it privately.

She also continues to experience ongoing chest pains as a result of fluid around her heart, as well as trauma.

“It is absolutely horrific that something so simple could go so wrong. The doctor shouldn’t have administered the adrenaline by IV, he wasn’t qualified to do that, and it has caused my life to be turned upside down,” she told The i Paper, who runs her own cleaning business in Hemel Hempstead.

“Psychologically, it has been terrible. I have had nightmares about what happened and have woken up screaming, knowing I could have died. When I feel the pains in my chest, which I still have as a result of what happened, I start to panic in case I am having another heart attack.

‘I’ll never be able to get over it’

Rachael’s husband has also been traumatised by the ordeal, and although he tries to support his wife, it has been incredibly hard on them both.

She added: “We have had no support – we were told we would have to pay for our own counselling, we couldn’t get it on the NHS, even though this was caused by the NHS. I don’t understand it.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get over what happened. I can never trust that hospital to treat me again, knowing how close I came to dying through their error.”

Rachael, who needed extensive support from her family when she was able to return home, recently secured a settlement from the trust with the support of law firm Slater and Gordon.

Katie Payne, solicitor in the clinical negligence team, said: “Rachael is forced to live with lifelong consequences as a result of this shocking incident, in which a doctor who was not qualified to administer adrenaline gave her ten times the recommended dose. This could so easily have been a fatal incident we were dealing with.

“Rachael is haunted by what happened and how close she came to losing her life as a result of putting her trust in medics. Lessons need to be learned urgently at this hospital, and processes put in place to enforce this, to ensure that a wholly avoidable incident of this kind does not happen again.”

A trust spokesperson said: “We are very sorry for the shortcomings in care provided to Mrs Emes and we have sincerely apologised.

“We carried out a detailed investigation to learn lessons from this incident and implemented a series of actions as a result.

“This included sharing the latest anaphylaxis guidelines with all clinicians. The incident has also been highlighted in departmental teaching sessions and governance meetings.”

If you or someone need support, contact Mind on 0300 102 1234 or Assist Trauma Care on 01788 551919