What Happens at Work...

Yesterday I had an afternoon off. Between 12 and 6pm, I wandered the sunny streets of Kincardine, napped, ate cookies and wrote thank you notes.

Between the hours of 12 and 6 pm, two people came in to the Emergency Department and died.

A woman had come in to hospital with shortness of breath. It had been going on for several days, but was now getting worse to the point that she and her husband were worried. They dropped the dog off at the groomers and brought her to ER. She walked in gasping, and wheezing. They put her on a stretched, she arrested and she died. It was completely unexpected.

Her husband was obviously terribly distressed. He went to pick up the dog before telling his family about the sudden tragedy that had struck them. He was in the parking lot outside the dog groomers when he collapsed. The ambulance was there in 5 minutes, but by the time he arrived in ER, he was dead too.

Husband and wife from healthy and well to stone cold in 5 hours.

I arrived at 6 to meet a shaken supervising Doctor. He had offered to cover the half-shift from 1-6 so his colleague could attend a meeting. He was not expecting a day like this.

My night, after 6pm, was uneventful with respect to the patients. I, on the other hand, blacked out while fighting with a drug addict. I woke up in the resuscitation room with my boss listening to my chest. "Did you know you have a heart murmur?" he asked. "Do you think you could be pregnant?".

The nurses brought me orange juice and petted me and called me sweetie for the rest of the night. I got up, saw patients until 1am, then went home to sleep. There was no reason for me to faint (eg: not prego). I was not expecting a night like that.

On again Friday. I don't know what to hope for, but whatever happens, it will be interesting.

I know this place

I am on day 3 of my rural rotation and I have a strong sense of deja vu. My intern year included 3 months in Warrnambool; a small town on the southern coast of Australia. Kincardine is a small town on Lake Huron, which might as well be the ocean. Wide streets, gorgeous blue skies and lots of leafy trees. The only difference is the accent.

The rural placement is a bizarre situation. Designed by medical schools to encourage rural practice, they are often incredibly luxurious. Right now I'm sitting in a 5 bedroom architectural gem, where sunlight streams from every window and Adirondack chairs overlook the hummingbird garden. I walk to work, have my scrubs provided, nurses prep and review each patient before I see them and I'm out on time every day. Luxury. Right?

Well. Tonight I'm running the ER overnight. Most of the time this means coughs, cuts and chest pain. Sometimes it means managing a stabbing from the local pub. Sometimes they have a 3 vehicle pileup on the freeway and send the mangled bits your way. The other Docs can be called in, but you're the first port of call.

Great luxury? Great responsibility. To paraphrase Alfred.


In the 'Bool, I coped by coming home every day and watching Friday Night Lights. Today, as I try to sleep under a blanket of anxiety, I attempted The Newsroom.

I'm gonna need another distraction.