Alarms are blaring. It's code red.
Night shifts in hospitals are usually non-toxic considering most patients sleep and require less care at night time. However, the same is not expected from the Medical Intensive Care Unit where health care professionals are always on alert and on their toes with regards to patient care and treatment.
The alarms are blaring. It's time to bring the crash cart.
The nurse on duty ran towards the cubicle with the flashing red light, signaling that the patient inside is in a life and death situation. She finds the on-call doctor atop the bed, giving chest compressions to the unresponsive patient undergoing cardiac arrest.
She opens a syringe pack and started breaking an ampule of epinephrine.
"Atro and Epi Anne!"
"Yes Doc."
Anne aspirates the desired amount and administers it. She then climbed on to the bed, nodded to the doctor to exchange positions. Anne continued on giving chest compressions as the doctor commenced with the insertion of an endotracheal tube to help the patient breathe.
The doctor successfully inserted the tube and connected the patient to the mechanical ventilator and signaled Anne to exchange.
The patient's cardiac monitor had a flat line and initially had small spikes mirroring the chest compressions, but after the administration of medicine and the tube, it slowly regained its rhythm.
Lub dub. Lub dub. Lub dub.
The sound of the patient's beating heart is music to their ears. They did it again. They saved another life.
"Wah. So tired!" the doctor sat in a slump next to the nearest wall inside the cubicle.
"Let's pray no one goes on arrest again," Anne sat next to the doctor, releasing the stress and tiredness in one deep breath.
"Out of the ten cubicles we have, we already saved six on the first three hours of our shift. That's as good as saying one patient goes on cardiac arrest every 30 minutes. We still have five hours to go. Have this ever happened to you?" the doctor looks at Anne, awaiting her answer.
"This is the first time actually. The most I had on a shift is probably two, and that's when I was doing morning shifts, we had several of the staff around so it's not as toxic."
"This happens to me all the time. I think I'm jinxed." the doctor looks up and lets out a deep sigh.
"Nah, don't think like that Doc. It's just fate. Think of it as the patients trusting you so much that they decide to go on arrest on your shifts. They know you'll definitely save them."
"That's one way to look at it," the doctor smiled, "a very positive way to look at it actually. Well, I'm thankful for the trust, but I'd very much prefer if they just give up the idea of arrest altogether. Getting out of a coma, now that's something I would like having on my shifts."
"I agree."
"I want to be known as a doctor who makes the coma patients come back to consciousness... being called the cardiac arrest doctor doesn't really have a good ring to it..." she looks at Anne. "You're actually the first one to give a positive review of my shift, most of those who I worked with usually diss me afterwards, and disliked working with me because it's always toxic when I'm on duty."
"None of it is your fault Doc. It's not something you control. You just do your best and hope that it is enough. As long as you try your hardest, you shouldn't feel bad. And if you think about it, you actually bring people back to life... that's something you should be proud of."
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Doctor Sunflower #Wattys2017
RomanceWhat will you do if the man you adore who you've only seen through your TV screen is suddenly right in front of your eyes? A young medical student who also works as a night-shift nurse was given the opportunity to represent her university to the I...
