tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3138625163039637769.post6867318059690664230..comments2024-03-12T14:43:01.539-06:00Comments on Asystole is the Most Stable Rhythm: I Was There, In the RoomAlbinoblackbearhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15222730484450544498noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3138625163039637769.post-23456604591230288162008-09-20T01:53:00.000-06:002008-09-20T01:53:00.000-06:00"You've still got the pre-med, pre-clinical optimi..."You've still got the pre-med, pre-clinical optimism..."<BR/><BR/>Glad to hear my "try not to be too cynical" approach to life is working.<BR/><BR/>:)Albinoblackbearhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15222730484450544498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3138625163039637769.post-24836549833725808522008-09-18T11:10:00.000-06:002008-09-18T11:10:00.000-06:00Just wait until you get to the wards...everything ...Just wait until you get to the wards...everything is a trend line, the bottom line intimately becomes your concern when you're formulating a treatment strategy (see any post on WhiteCoat Rants) and you're sole job is to keep people from getting anywhere near that "going to die" state. <BR/><BR/>You've still got the pre-med, pre-clinical optimism...and I hope the medical system doesn't make you lose it.Bostonian in NYhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16806067349785623843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3138625163039637769.post-17111336898626769422008-09-17T10:08:00.000-06:002008-09-17T10:08:00.000-06:00BINY--"the full range..." is an interest...BINY--"the full range..." is an interesting way of looking at it. It is true though, the human experience is being played out in living color. I suppose that is what provides magnitude to a job that more often takes away than gives back. <BR/><BR/>I feel sometimes that health care has ruined me for any other profession. Try as I may, I just cannot get jazzed or stressed about things like deadlines, or bottom lines, or trendlines. I just look at generic job crisis and go "is anyone gonna die? then what is the big deal??"<BR/><BR/>Not so good in the real world. Also why I was no good at admin. <BR/><BR/>Ai yi yi...why do we do this to ourselves??<BR/><BR/>Acting some days? Most def. <BR/><BR/>Okay that makes >24h again without sleep, enough of my rambling.Albinoblackbearhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15222730484450544498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3138625163039637769.post-41024283113768851912008-09-16T21:55:00.000-06:002008-09-16T21:55:00.000-06:00I had a surgery attending that would describe ever...I had a surgery attending that would describe every shift as "the full range of the human experience played out before you." His words were all that came to mind when I read about your shift and they're sometimes true. <BR/><BR/>Some days, I feel like most of what I spend my day doing is acting...but that's another discussion for another timeBostonian in NYhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16806067349785623843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3138625163039637769.post-38114218158477291382008-09-16T17:05:00.000-06:002008-09-16T17:05:00.000-06:00I'll add it to my list of things to read. Life isn...I'll add it to my list of things to read. Life isn't all about enjoyment, anyway.<BR/><BR/>Thank you.Rogue Medichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07598646309630074992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3138625163039637769.post-48112740378825485142008-09-16T16:35:00.000-06:002008-09-16T16:35:00.000-06:00RM--You ought to order "Burning Down the House-Fig...RM--You ought to order "Burning Down the House-Fighting Fires and Losing Myself" by Russell Wangersky. Interesting read. He talks a lot about the stresses of front line work, how it destroyed his marriage (and outlook on life for some time). <BR/><BR/>You might enjoy--er--that is probably not the right word...might find you can relate...I could with much of what he writes about.Albinoblackbearhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15222730484450544498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3138625163039637769.post-48523229619826813912008-09-16T15:41:00.000-06:002008-09-16T15:41:00.000-06:00I don't think there was anything anyone other than...I don't think there was anything anyone other than the patient could have done to make a difference in the call I described. The night before or after, I don't remember which, we had another patient die. A cop, who was shot. He had also been awake and talking when we arrived on scene. This was also very difficult to deal with and not preventable. <BR/><BR/>One of the guys I knew had been a precepting medic when dispatched to the Stockton school shooting. He was so affected by that, he couldn't finish school or go back to working the street.<BR/><BR/>I have had some calls where the supervisor on scene insists that I follow the medical command orders that contributed to the death of the patient. Mostly the rules have improved and the patients may have died anyway, but I felt like I was standing on their coffin lid, waiting for them to stop trying to escape. <BR/><BR/>This is just one of the reasons I am so critical of medical command requirements.<BR/><BR/>Dealing with this probably also contributed to my divorce. I have learned to be better at just blocking out the emotions of others. I don't have to feel what they feel. I don't have to empathize or sympathize. I do have to provide the best care I can. If nothing else, for a tenuous grasp on what is tolerated as an inept attempt at sanity, on a good day. :-)<BR/><BR/>Sometimes that means putting my job on the line, but there are plenty of people who might defend me now. When I was new, I was more trusting and obedient - so I followed orders more often. <BR/><BR/>Losing my job and certification vs. following dangerous orders. This hasn't been a difficult decision for a long time. I can always find other work. When I have refused to follow orders I have been told not to do it again. I was even placed on double secret probation one time - nothing more.<BR/><BR/>I'll let you objectify me if you don't mind my wailing. :-)<BR/><BR/>I understood what you meant. I am glad I didn't quit, but I would have a hard time working a "normal" job and I'm too old to join the military and blow things up (and they have a thing about obedience, too).Rogue Medichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07598646309630074992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3138625163039637769.post-8048138714686739912008-09-16T11:33:00.000-06:002008-09-16T11:33:00.000-06:00RM--I suppose you are exposed to tragedy much more...RM--I suppose you are exposed to tragedy much more often than I, being someone who is on the front lines of emergency care. <BR/><BR/>The theatrical wails of the histrionic attention seeker waiting to be seen I can ignore...but when someone truly in anguish and wailing,for me that is something different. <BR/><BR/>I can imagine that seeing people in their home environment with loved ones around must make distancing oneself more difficult. It must be easier to objectify a patient in a hospital setting than in a setting familiar to the patient. <BR/><BR/>Wait, now before I get in trouble for using the word "objectify" let me say that getting that indifference when you are working on someone who is a mess is essential for me. When a mangled body is before me and I have a job to do it is necessary to put up some sort of wall. That doesn't equal dispassionate care. <BR/><BR/>Glad you didn't quit!!<BR/><BR/>AMG-Yes, it was. At the time it was tough but it's definitely been on my mind a lot these past couple of days...myself and the other nurse are planning to go to the funeral.Albinoblackbearhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15222730484450544498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3138625163039637769.post-75259259657629101912008-09-15T20:17:00.000-06:002008-09-15T20:17:00.000-06:00That sounds like an emotional night; definitely no...That sounds like an emotional night; definitely not one easily forgotten.Ann-Mariehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04831069227149403052noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3138625163039637769.post-39490507362824855882008-09-14T18:58:00.000-06:002008-09-14T18:58:00.000-06:00After a while all of those anguished cries tend to...After a while all of those anguished cries tend to blend in together as one generic wail. The ones that really get to me are the ones who acted differently. I had a CHF patient refusing treatment, we removed the high flow oxygen and put him back on his home oxygen to see how he would tolerate it. He coded within a minute. Kept getting pulses back and he would go into pulseless VT again. Got to the hospital, they worked on him a bit and pronounced him. The wife came out to the ambulance bay, thanked us, and gave us big hugs. That topped off a very bad week for me and I never felt more like quitting than at that time.Rogue Medichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07598646309630074992noreply@blogger.com