The Emergency Room

So Feb I rotated in the ER, and it was fabulous. My first day was a trauma with a guy laughing because "it was just like tv". Yes, the doctor, medical student, and nurses all quickly gathered around the dude who feel off a 20 ft ladder to assess his injuries. He was ok. The rest of the day I assessed diarrhea, abdominal pain, pelvic pain, bloody noses, etc.

Shift Two was a "difficulty breather"..I was scrolling through everything I could remember about asthma on my way into the room. I was shocked when I approached a dude who had no blood pressure, his belly stuck out and was purple, and he could not breathe. I got scare he was going to die right in front of me....I ran and got my attending while rushing this guy to the CT and he lived...at least until the end of my shift. In fact, they all lived until the end of my shift, except one guy. Trauma- a 40 y/o male got hit by a car and died. Basically head trauma from no helmet. So kids wear your helmet. It was awful to explain to the family and now some little kiddies have no daddy.

The highlight of my month was suturing. I was a bit apprehensive when left to stitch some guy's face. Dude, that should be a plastics consult not a 3rd year medical student. I was floored when my attending said "Perfect". Still not sure if perfect for the ER or perfect as in I would let you stitch my face. Also, I sutured an ear together after a human bit it off at 3 am.