Trauma: Life in the ER

Today was an interesting one. We had our trauma rotation which is supposed to take place in the Emergency Dept. It's always exciting when you have ER, not because it's super interesting, but there is air condition! Everyone who has had trauma has seen some pretty crazy stuff. We were not so lucky. There wasn't one trauma patient in the ER so our doc took us upstairs to the male surgical ward to talk with a patient who had come in through the ER the day before. I can't describe to you how hot it was! To give you an idea, most of the patients wear only their undergarments...poor things. We are required to not only be professionally dressed, but we must wear our lab coats at all times in the wards. We crowded around our patient's bed to hear his story about how he was an "innocent bystander" in a fight and three of his fingers were almost completely cut off by a machete. Sadly, we didn't get to see the wound as it was bandaged and they didn't want him to move his fingers as they are still trying to save them. I was standing near the head of the bed where there was no breeze and was dripping sweat. I had to excuse myself and walk outside because I got so overheated. Heat never bothers me, but it did today. I guess I didn't drink enough water before I went. Then one of the surgeons saw me outside and thought something was wrong...that was embarrassing! I plan on carrying some water with me for the rest of our rotations. We only have 6 left out of the 22!! The time is flying by, which is good because I have never been so ready to get home. Well I must get back to studying. The second set of exams is rapidly approaching!
~M