Case Presentation

In the Emergency Room

It is a Thursday evening and you are working in the emergency room for an overnight shift. The clock reads 11pm, and things seem slow. You are told there is a high school student named Bill Watson in triage for you. You enter the triage room and see a young male sitting on a stretcher with his hands pressed to his chest wall. It appears that he is on a sports team of some sort, and his teammates have accompanied him. You ask him what happened.

"Tonight, I was at wrestling practice, my heart started racing and I felt like I was going to pass out. I got a wicked headache and no matter what I do I cannot get my heart to stop pounding out of my chest. I have not eaten a lot today because we are competing tomorrow and I need to make my weight to compete tomorrow in the light weight category."