A Beautiful Day to Save Lives
By: Sarah Baksh
The sirens are ringing in our ears as it pulls into the ER ambulance drive way. “We have a trauma coming in” Jackson yells at the residents. Just then the EMT comes rushing in with a patient on the gurney. “Statu..” Before I could finish the emt said “ 28 year old female, 35 weeks pregnant, Stable at the field but the fetal heartbeat is a bit low.” “Someone page peds” I yelled. I started to triage the patient. “Hi my name’s Dr Robbins and I’m going to take care of you and your baby. Can you tell me your name?” “My name’s… my name’s April.” She was terrified. The monitor started to beep and my fear was confirmed the fetus was having decels a drop in the heart rate. “Someone call the OR and let them know we’re coming with a crash C-section” The husband had showed up and Jackson started to update him. Rushing to the OR to scrub in and feeling the intensity of the room is an amazing and terrifying feeling. Once you step into that OR everything disappears. Your senses are sharpened and decision making skills are exhilarated. All the pressure is on you. Your adrenaline is rushing and heightened. Your pulse is throbbing and you can hear it in your ear. The antiseptic scent is over taking the OR as the arctic air grazes your skin and goosebumps form. My words break the silence “ 10 Blade” There I stand with two lives at my fingertips. One born and one unborn. Scalpel in hand ready to make the cut but not slicing into her abdomen. As I make the incision blood rushes out like a water stream but under control. Working at speed but with precision to deliver a healthy baby boy. Mother and child are safe and out of danger. Once the baby’s out and heading to the NICU, I asked a resident to close up the patient. I take off my OR gear and walk to go meet the husband. I give him an update and he thanks me. That’s the wonders of working as a doctor. Bringing new lives into this world and saving them. I look at Jackson and say “ It’s a beautiful day to save lives.”
I love the lines, "There I stand with two lives at my fingertips. One born and one unborn"--so intense! You really tap into medical terminology here too.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I did a course in med term so it fit perfectly for me.
DeleteSarah, I think that you did an excellent job of describing the high drama that often takes place in the operating room. I love the line were you say,"your pulse is throbbing and you can you hear it in your ear". Please write more .I would like to hear more of the story.
ReplyDeleteThank you Larry! I was going to make them little mini medical stories so a different story every time
DeleteMaybe it's me? I keep finding common threads in these incredible posts. I absolutely love the way Sarah captured the "life or death" drama that happens in an ER. In a matter of minutes, decisions are made and lives are saved, or lost. I can't help but think that that same adrenaline fueled type of drama happened when the main character in Shyheed's story heard the "boom". In seconds, forget about minutes, the character had to make decisions that this time cost a life. The same hormone (did I get that right Sarah?) fuels and sharpens the skill of the doctor while it causes the character in Top to make a wrong fight or flight decision in his life. (Shyheed, I wasn't really sure if I interpreted your story correctly. I read it several times and that was the message I came away with. PLEASE tell me if I mis-read your story.) I also wonder what I (we) would be feeling if Dr. Robbins lost one or both of the lives. There are so many parallels between the two stories and I could go on, but I'd rather hear from the authors. Let me know if I'm on the right track or way off.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to bring one other post into this discussion. Sofie's "Moments Pass" is also a very powerful post. I could feel the main character's sense of loss and despair. I was trying to yell out to the character and say NO DON'T DO IT and IT WILL GET BETTER. Then I couldn't help but think what if someone gets Sofie's character to Dr. Robbins. Lives. Lives saved and lives lost. Sometimes it all hangs on a decision, an action or an interaction.
To all of the authors: BRAVO!
Thank you Al. If Dr Robbins had lost both patients it would've have been a totally different spin. Especially the convos between the husband and Robbins. Also the internal stress Dr robbins would go through because she lost two patients
DeleteOmg I felt like I was watching a Grey's Anatomy episode! It's hard to catch your breath while reading this because you did such a good job of capturing the intensity and adrenaline of these moments. I especially love how you use dialogue to move along the action, it makes everything feel more fast-paced.
ReplyDeleteAw thanks Celeste! Grey's anatomy was my inspiration to writing this 😂
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