ER Stories

The reason I went into Emergency Medicine is to treat sick patients and hopefully make them better. I enjoy the surge of adrenaline and the feeling of deep satisfaction when I bring someone back from the brink of doom. It used to be that a bad attack of acute congestive heart failure afforded me just such an opportunity. Support the airway (intubate if necessary) and get ‘em on a nitro drip and blast them with Lasix. Very satisfying watching the patient start to breathe easier.
Anyway, no longer. Why? No, not because patients are taking better care of themselves and watching their salt intake. It’s because of our paramedics! They take away my chance to shine because they have gotten too good at managing it themselves in the field! Then can give endless sprays of sublingual nitro. The have 100 of Lasix. And most importantly they have BiPAP. It’s not uncommon for me to field a call from them where it sounds like the patient is going down the tubes and by the time they get to the ER, they are smiling from under their face mask asking for a urinal to diurese in! Sats that go from 78 to 98 by the time they are with me are not uncommon.
The only good thing about this is that I can fart around on the Internet for a few more minutes before I have to get off my ass and go see them….
Good job crew!

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

*Today’s modern ER’s will have some of the most advanced medical equipment available

I just discovered that our EMR has discharge “instructions” for Jail Clearance. I printed them out for some police officers who were carting a conveniently anxious perp and read them before I gave them to the cops.

“No emergent condition has been found and you are thus cleared for jail”.

Nice and to the point. GTFO in other words.

When someone yells “You da man!”, to me, I’d expect that I just hit a 280 yd drive or that I just nailed a 360 off a ski jump.
Although those would be damn cool (since I seriously doubt I could do either any more), I am just as psyched when a Dad yells that at me right after I successfully reduced his 2 y/o’s nursemaid’s elbow after two other people failed to do so.
I kinda felt like taking a victory lap.