- Joined
- Jun 9, 2015
- Messages
- 16
- Reaction score
- 5
So I've been a volunteer in the local ER for about a month and a half now. In the first month I saw plenty of things that were slightly upsetting, mothers crying while holding their injured babies, drunk people screaming at the police and doctors while getting medical clearance for jail. But a couple nights ago I saw what a tech described as "the busiest night in [his] 2 years as a tech." I'm sure in other places this is a daily thing, but it was a big deal in this tiny hospital.
The news came in that there had been a major car crash and shortly after there was a call from the helicopter that they were bringing in a patient in critical condition. At first it was exciting to me, the energy of everything, it seemed exciting to everyone else too. Everyone seemed to flock together, the nurses were standing together in groups by the trauma rooms, the OR people stood together in a central area, I stood with the techs waiting to do any little task that somebody told me to do (and there were plenty of little tasks to be done). As the helicopter approached we learned that there had been another major car crash with plenty more patients.
The helicopter landed and the first patient was rushed into the trauma room. The various teams leaped into the room. Probably about 20 people in total, everyone was doing everything simultaneously. It was like art. Everyone had their place and their job. As I watched in awe a tech who has always been a mentor to me explained Airway, Breathing, Circulation, what everyone was doing, and also informed me of the details of the accident: alcohol was involved, and there had been fatalities. Most of the blood was not the patient's. That patient went upstairs to the floor.
The techs and I got the room prepped for the next patient. We cleaned up the blood and restocked all the supplies. It is my understanding that in a collision with fatalities everyone still alive must get medical attention. A young adult was brought in by ambulance with a very minor shoulder injury. I have no idea who had been drinking but the police had blood samples taken from everyone for BAC testing. Somebody had killed somebody in this situation.
The room was ready and another patient came by helicopter. Shortly before his arrival my "mentor" tech showed me where we could stand (by the backdoor of the trauma room) to watch everything but not get in the way of anything. Things were mostly about the same with this patient. He did require a chest tube which was very interesting to watch in real life.
My shift was over an hour ago at this point. The remainder of surviving patients were stable enough to be brought by ambulance and were en route. I went to the break room to drink some water and decompress. I didn't notice until then but I was shaking. I tried to talk to the chaplain, who was there in case anybody wanted help connecting with their preferred deity before passing (thankfully not necessary, at least where we were), but I could hardly manage to speak coherently. I asked the head nurse if he needed me to stay to help out but he said everything incoming was pretty minor.
I went home.
Always have a designated driver.
The news came in that there had been a major car crash and shortly after there was a call from the helicopter that they were bringing in a patient in critical condition. At first it was exciting to me, the energy of everything, it seemed exciting to everyone else too. Everyone seemed to flock together, the nurses were standing together in groups by the trauma rooms, the OR people stood together in a central area, I stood with the techs waiting to do any little task that somebody told me to do (and there were plenty of little tasks to be done). As the helicopter approached we learned that there had been another major car crash with plenty more patients.
The helicopter landed and the first patient was rushed into the trauma room. The various teams leaped into the room. Probably about 20 people in total, everyone was doing everything simultaneously. It was like art. Everyone had their place and their job. As I watched in awe a tech who has always been a mentor to me explained Airway, Breathing, Circulation, what everyone was doing, and also informed me of the details of the accident: alcohol was involved, and there had been fatalities. Most of the blood was not the patient's. That patient went upstairs to the floor.
The techs and I got the room prepped for the next patient. We cleaned up the blood and restocked all the supplies. It is my understanding that in a collision with fatalities everyone still alive must get medical attention. A young adult was brought in by ambulance with a very minor shoulder injury. I have no idea who had been drinking but the police had blood samples taken from everyone for BAC testing. Somebody had killed somebody in this situation.
The room was ready and another patient came by helicopter. Shortly before his arrival my "mentor" tech showed me where we could stand (by the backdoor of the trauma room) to watch everything but not get in the way of anything. Things were mostly about the same with this patient. He did require a chest tube which was very interesting to watch in real life.
My shift was over an hour ago at this point. The remainder of surviving patients were stable enough to be brought by ambulance and were en route. I went to the break room to drink some water and decompress. I didn't notice until then but I was shaking. I tried to talk to the chaplain, who was there in case anybody wanted help connecting with their preferred deity before passing (thankfully not necessary, at least where we were), but I could hardly manage to speak coherently. I asked the head nurse if he needed me to stay to help out but he said everything incoming was pretty minor.
I went home.
Always have a designated driver.
