Nicole Martin

My Proud Story...

Ten years ago, my sister came to St. Luke's Bethlehem for what was expected to be a very normal delivery of my nephew. At that time, I was employed by the hospital at that time, but I rushed to meet her there. While in labor, my sister developed severe pain and quickly became unresponsive. The labor and delivery nurse stayed focused on monitoring the baby while I called for help. Several nurses rushed to her side and quickly realized she and my nephew were in serious danger. At the time, she had developed an acute pulmonary embolism and was not breathing. A code pink was called and she was immediately taken to the OR. Within three minutes he was in the OR, scrubbed and delivering my nephew. My sister started to bleed uncontrollably, so the trauma surgeon was called in to assist. The neonatologist quickly tended to my nephew while the team of doctors, nurses and anesthesiologist did everything possible to save my sister’s life. As we stood outside the OR clutching one another, it seemed like a million people were rushing in to do whatever they could to save my beautiful family. My sister had developed a condition known as DIC, where she continued to bleed uncontrollably. Once somewhat stable, she was moved to ICU where she received blood and platelets over several days. After a few days, the bleeding stopped and she started to recover. During that time, the NICU took amazing care of my nephew, even though he was full term, until they knew my sister was out of the woods. My sister spent the next month or so in the hospital recovering, which happened to be over the holidays. At the time, my niece was seven-years-old and missing her mom dearly over Christmas. The nursing staff on the L&D unit allowed us to bring in a small Christmas tree and decorate her room. The nurses helped make her room as comfortable as possible so we could bring my niece in and have Christmas with her mom and brother. I knew after watching the team of care providers during her ordeal that I had to be a part of something that amazing.

Shortly after this, I applied for a job with St. Luke's and have never looked back. This is where I need to be, this is where I want to be, this is where I was meant to be. To be a part of something so special is an amazingly proud moment for me. I could never thank my sister’s care team enough for saving her and my nephew’s lives. It took an army to save her and those people will always have my gratitude and respect.

Nicole Martin, PA-C
Hospitalist, Internal Medicine
Hired in 2010