I used to hear them all the time. It's very common. When you hear it in person and really take some time to listen to it -- it really DOESN'T sound like the person's "lungs are filling with fluid" at all. It just sounds like they need to clear their throat. Next time you're a bit phlematic, resist the urge to clear your throat for a while and you'll be able to make that sound also.
It freaks families out, though, and saying things like "OMGWTFBBQ!!!!!!11!!! TEH LUNGS ARE FILLING UP WITH FLUIDZ!11!!!" is, as you can imagine, not particularly helpful.
Families often request suction and nursing staff (who just love to do something rather than do nothing) are often happy to oblige, but all suction does is irritate the inside of the patient' throat - causing more mucous production and (ta-da!) MORE DRAMATIC DEATH RATTLE!
The hospice I used to work for used scopolamine patches for patients who were in their last 72 hours of life. That cleared up the congestion and calmed the families down A LOT.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2008-11-25 03:31 am (UTC)It freaks families out, though, and saying things like "OMGWTFBBQ!!!!!!11!!! TEH LUNGS ARE FILLING UP WITH FLUIDZ!11!!!" is, as you can imagine, not particularly helpful.
Families often request suction and nursing staff (who just love to do something rather than do nothing) are often happy to oblige, but all suction does is irritate the inside of the patient' throat - causing more mucous production and (ta-da!) MORE DRAMATIC DEATH RATTLE!
The hospice I used to work for used scopolamine patches for patients who were in their last 72 hours of life. That cleared up the congestion and calmed the families down A LOT.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scopolamine