Post-call exhaustion stories

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Vandelay Industries

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Not to encourage making poor decisions like getting behind a car post-call if you're exhausted...but thought I'd share a funny story of my post-call day and see if anyone else had similar experiences:

Was feeling pretty decent post-call, so I figured I would run a quirk errand on my way home from the hospital: getting a document notarized at my bank that I had put off for a week. Was feeling a little tired when I pulled up to the bank at like 1030 (and only a few blocks from my house), but otherwise fine. There were a bunch of people waiting to be seen unfortunately, so I checked in at the desk and took a seat between two people. My phone was dead, and there was no TV in the waiting area, so I just leaned my head back on the wall and felt myself relax. Next thing I know, I wake up with a snort (meaning I was probably snoring), to the gentle prodding in my shoulder by the 70yo grandma that I had slumped over on.

Everyone was staring at me and laughing/smiling. I apologized profusely to the lady (who was very kind), but after I left the bank I was chuckling to myself about how ridiculous it must have looked. I texted a few of my co-residents so they could share a laugh at my expense, and a few had similar stories (one had fallen asleep on the light rail and went like 15 stations past their stop). Anyone else have similar stories of post-call exhaustion?

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Attending here...but back when I was a resident in Anesthesiology I worked a 24 hour all-nighter at a busy trauma/transplant center. This wasn't unusual, but for whatever reason I was super tired when I left work. I drove home, lowering the windows to let in super cold air and blasted music to stay awake. I was actually feeling more awake the closer I got to home. I pulled into the garage, put the car in park...and woke up an hour later with the car still running! Fortunately, I had not closed the garage door or I might not be here today relaying this story. From then on, and to this day, if I am exhausted when I'm done with call, I sleep for an hour or two in the call room before driving!
 
Post-call on general surgery during internship in NYC. I probably logged 105-110 hrs/week. I left the hospital post-call around 8AM on a Sunday and drove across the Queensboro Bridge. I got to the stop light x 3rd Avenue in Manhattan. I must have dozed off. Got the patient NYC honk.

As soon as I woke up, I hit the accelerator, but shocked that the light was still red since I almost hit a pedestrian crossing the street with his groceries.

When he looked at me in shock/wtf, it turned out that it was Spike Lee.

Good times in the fall of 2003.
 
One time after a long call shift my mother called, and in my stupor at the end of the conversation, I thought I was talking to my wife and said "Ok, love you, baby" and hung up. That was awkward.
 
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