Emergency Room Antics

This is a typical Saturday night in the Emergency Room:

2000hrs: Two drunks, one of whom is 14yrs old and was found unconscious in the gutter, while the other was very well dressed, 41yrs old and celebrating his birthday with some work colleagues. He is a lawyer, and had just finished work.

2010hrs: Fortunately the 14yr old was able to be woken up. We managed to get hold of the girl's mother who was naturally hysterical and is on her way down. Unfortunately, we couldn't wake the lawyer, even after we tried everything in the book. We tried the sternal chest rub, squashing his fingernails with a hard object, and pushing the pressure points in the eye sockets. It looks like he may end up being intubated.

2020hrs: A drunk 16yr old boy presented with a broken collar bone. He's very subdued. It's probably because he has ruined his parents car. While he is sent to get x-rayed the doc has decided that the drunk lawyer needs to be intubated and has called the anaesthetist.

2025hrs: The 14yr old girl's mother has arrived. I feel so sorry for the poor woman. The moment she saw her precious child lying there in a hospital gown with a drip in her arm she broke down in tears. The girl broke into tears as well and now they are hugging. It's so good to see a family that seems to care. It could have turned out so different.

2040hrs: The lawyer has been intubated and taken to intensive care. Meanwhile an elderly lady has been wheeled in a chair complaining of a sore upper thigh. She had a fall getting off the toilet. I was a bit worried that she may have broken something so put her on a bed and saw straight away the signs of a fractured hip, or NOF (neck of femur). Her affected leg was shorter than the other one and rotated inwards.

2045hrs: A 61yr old man was brought in after falling off a bar stool. He was very intoxicated and had some superficial lacerations to his face and hands. He needed some sutures. He did fall nearly three feet onto his hip, but he showed no sings of a fractured hip. It is almost unfair that he doesn't break a hip when the woman on the toilet did, but it's not uncommon. Drunk people often avoid serious injury because they are so relaxed. When people are sober and fall, they tense up, helping to cause a break.

2100hrs: That's my first hour of work over and it feels like forever.