In my few years in the ER, I’ve learned a few things.
- don’t sleep on the train tracks
- 68 year olds should not do cocaine
- some people want to be miserable
- true love does still exist
- the will to live can be brutal
- 2 minutes of CPR can wear you out
- sometimes TPA works, sometimes it doesn’t
- “elderly fall” = ticking time bomb
- esophageal varices is an ugly way to die
- the former drug addict with mouth sores may just need a hug and be told she’s beautiful
- it’s ok to tell the patient’s spouse to call the children
- just because someone is “being dramatic” doesn’t mean there isn’t something horribly wrong
- never let an hypotensive GI bleed out of bed
- always check to see if the patient who’s been in the ER awhile is diabetic
- withdrawals ARE life threatening
- sometimes the dementia patient who has been in the ER a few days waiting for long – term placement needs to go on a “field trip” outside
- we don’t only take care of law-abiding citizens
- firemen are awesome
- a stretcher carrying a 350 lb man with a tech doing compressions rolled over ones toe will break said toe…
- every shift I learn something new
- it takes a team to care for the sick, and I’ve got the BEST one!
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