It sounds like a fourteen gauge needle hit the artery, or tore up the brachial nerve. Was it training day? It’s prudent to identify the artery first and know your anatomy. It does happen to the best of them, one needs to recognize it. There are signs you’re in an artery, bright red blood, pulsatile flow etc. The damage could have been from the direct trauma to the nerve, or pressure from a hematoma. This is really sad, now she has a dead arm, hopefully she doesn’t have neuropathic pain. They forgot to put out the “NO DIGGING” sign.
There can be unforseen negative side effects to any procedure. Pfizer developed the boogie fever vaccine e in 1977 and there were no negative side effects in the animal trials but when given to humans they all developed hip hop.
Back in 2007, I had a sarcoidosis flare-up in my lungs. In the ER I was told that they were going to perform a “blood gas analysis test”, which involved taking blood from the artery in my wrist. I was told it would be painful because the needle would have to pass thru nerves and there was a possibility they could be damaged. I was a test dummy for someone who had never done it before, and she couldn’t find the artery so she kept fishing around with the needle looking for it. FINALLY, she found it and got her blood sample. It was extremely painful, but that wasn’t the best part. She failed to do something with the vial to release pressure in it, and the end popped off with great force, sending my blood everywhere. It looked like a crime scene in there, my blood was splattered all over the wall, and all over the nurse. Another nurse ( an older one) came in, ordered the first nurse to clean up the walls and herself. She then told me
“We’re going to have to do this again.”
Well, she took it from my arm near the elbow the second time. It didn’t hurt as much, and I got away with NO nerve damage.
I have had that test performed twice more over the years. It still hurt like hell, but no repeats of the first fiasco.