Yet another day....

Yesterday my trousers hung even lower......reading back that sounds like the opening line of a really bad novel. Its true though, and the cause of it is....wait for it......instead of one bleep, I had two!
I had the honour of carrying the 'crash bleep'. This meant that everytime it went off (and unlike other bleeps that just go "bleeeep", this one broadcasts a voice, which tells you where the emergency is) I had to go racing (but not too fast cos my knees have not been behaving themselves too much, but as you will find out, my not racing there at top speed did not compromise patient care) to a ward - no matter how near or far.
The first time it went off was at about 1030am. So there I was, being cheered off by my SHO and the nurses on the ward as I sprinted to a ward on the floor above. When I got there the patient was already receiving CPR and not responding, but did not have a shockable rhythm.* Instead he was given two doses of adrenaline, but failed to respond. In the end they felt it futile and stopped CPR.
Now if you are wondering what yours sincerely did during this, the answer is - absolutely nothing - at all. I was the most junior member of the crash team, which includes SHOs, SpRs**, anaesthetists, and specialised CPRers (not sure what their official title is, but they really do know their stuff - they are the ones who train the doctors and other health professionals). So with all that expertise, if you were a relative of the patient, you really wouldn't want me having a go at doing something other than chest compressions (cos I reckon I can manage that pretty well - after all, its one of the few things hospital soaps get right!), because no matter how much enthusiasm I have, I lack the experience.
It went off again at about 1.45pm - this time it was an elderly gentleman who was on his way for an outpatient appointment when he collapsed, just as he passed through the doors of the hospital. Once again I made it there as fast as I could Once again I didn't do anything. But happily this time the man did recover. The cause of his collapse being a heart attack.
One would think that compared to the crash situations I had to attend, that the rest of my day would be reasonably dull. But not so.
I had the consultant ward round that I had been dreading last week, which then did not take place. And I did get told off - partly my stupidity I suppose: I had not realised that one of the new patients was under our care until a couple of hours before the ward round. So I then decided to do the bloods after the ward round. As luck would have it, he was one of the very few patients we have who is actually ill - all the others are well, and have been so for the past week or two and are waiting for social services to help them cope in the big wide world, or for a hospital acquired infection of some sort to come and finish them off. So I got a right telling off for not doing the bloods. While I feel some part of it was deserved, there is all the other stuff I'm doing which I would like some praise for once in a while. I know the need for praise is very childish, but I do think all of us crave it at some point or other.
Then, as if that was not enough, I spent the evening on the emergency admissions unit. This is about the only time house officers actually get to see someone from the beginning and come up with reasons for their admission, and actually use their grey matter. So although I was working, I found it more stimulating than the paperwork I do during the day. However, I don't know what has happened to either of the patients I saw....so in that way, its not that fulfilling.
But still - you can't have it all.


*a shockable rhythm is one where a DC current can be passed and the patient will return to normal, sinus, rhythm.
*SpR = Specialist Registrar - one above a SHO and below a consultant. Most people spend at least 3 years as an SpR before becoming a consultant.