When the news comes to you

I paused from trying to fit a banged-up motorcyle helmet into a patient belongings bag to listen to the automated overhead voice announcing "Level One Trauma, ETA five minutes" three times in quick succession. This is the code that sends doctors and nurses running to the room next door while donning visors and protective equipment. In my one year in the emergency department, I've only seen three level 1 traumas on my shift.  I quickly gathered the rest of the motorcycle accident patient's belongings and put on a fresh pair of gloves to join in on the commotion. Minutes later, the trauma room was noisily crammed to capacity with teams of doctors, nurses, X-ray technicians, paramedics, and oddly enough, half a dozen police officers. A thick trail of glossy, crimson blood followed the gurney.


Things in the ED had started off so relaxed and under control this morning that L, D, and I had nothing better to do than to have lunch at the hospital cafeteria, not at 1 or 2pm, but at noon!  I had also invited a visiting EMT student, M, who I had taken under my wing for the morning. We toured all of the stations, peered into patient rooms to fluff their pillows, and joked around with nurses--especially A, who treats everyone with good-natured fist-bumping, shoulder-poking, and back-pounding. My left shoulder is still a little sore.


Then came one trauma. Then another. And another two. All unrelated, of course. It seemed that for the rest of the day, most of I did was to gather patient belongings take inventory of cut-up, bloody, foul-smelling garments and personal effects while doctors and nurses swarmed around me. You'd be surprised how many foul smells (and textures!) one can experience in a busy urban county emergency department.


And then, minutes before my shift was over, came the case that hit close to home. When the patient was rolled in, doctors and nurses scrambled to save that man's life. We didn't know the details of the case. To us, he was a patient in need. Health care practitioners are under the Hippocratic oath to do anything in their power to save lives, after all, right? It matters not if the patient is of questionable character, has committed any wrongdoings, or even the very reason he arrived at the hospital. That is not for us to judge. All that matters is there is a body that needs mending, and a life worth saving.