Episode 3 summary:
In episode 3 we listened as Olivia began to share a story with us. We learned of her work environment and her responsibilities. Towards the end of the episode the atmosphere of the emergency room had changed giving Olivia the opportunity to control the one thing she really had no control of.
For more details, if you haven’t already, read episode 1 through 3. If you’re caught up please join me as Olivia continues to share her first story with us…
Episode 4:
Once outside the sun had begun to set, leaving the sky painted with pastel colors against a darkening backdrop. So much beauty before so much ugliness. A crowd of people had begun to gather around the car. When they saw the litter, they parted the way for us. We were headed towards a nice white BMW with about a hundred bullet holes all over it. It was so bad I wondered how anyone would’ve been able to survive that. No matter where you would’ve sat in that car, you were getting hit.
The windows to the BMW were tinted so we couldn’t see in, at which point the doctor opened the driver’s door. The nurse was at his side ready to assist while I stood on command from the head of the litter. No one was on the driver’s side or passengers’ side. The nurse who was closer to the back door opened it. I could see someone was in there. I ducked and turned my head to get a better view, and I saw it was more than one person.
A woman sitting on the back seat was crying while holding a slumped over adult male. She made eye contact with the nurse and started rambling while crying. Without knowing the story, my heart went out to her. The nurse guided the woman out while the doctor leaned in to check for a pulse. He told the nurse there was one. With the litter locked in place, the three of us were able to lift the patient out of the car and onto the litter. We ran him inside to start treatment for him.
He was a Hispanic male in his early twenties. He looked pale and weak. We wheeled the litter inside the emergency room with my nurse yelling to the charge nurse that we needed a room. One was assigned quickly and without a beat, the patient was in the room. I noticed staff waiting for us upon entering the room; two doctors, five nurses, and two nursing assistants. The minute the litter was locked in place, we all got to work.
One nurse began cutting the patient’s clothes. The other searched for a vein to place an IV. One nursing assistant was putting the patient on the cardiac monitor. I started doing the EKG. Both doctors watched, barking out orders, and comparing thoughts with each other as more decisions were made regarding medication and test. Phone calls to trauma hospitals were made for acceptance of this patient because we were not a trauma center.
TO BE CONTINUED…
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M.C. Addington 