Tales of an ER Nurse

The other day, a 50-something year old male came into the ER, guarding his abdomen, hunched over due to pain. I introduced myself and started an IV, and told him I needed him to give a urine sample. I offered to put a robe on him so he wouldn't be flashing his backside. He commented, "Oh, that's okay. I have panties on." I waited for a second, then looked at his wife and smiled, and she smiled back. I asked, "Did you just say you were wearing panties?" He said, "Um, yeah." We all started laughing. A few hours later, when I was discharging him, he asked, "You're not going to tell anyone that I called my underwear 'panties,' are you?" I replied, "Oh, you bet I'm going to tell people!"

The movie that came to me from Netflix this week happened to be "Beaches." A poor choice to watch tonight, as it turns out, given the timing of events this week. Yesterday, we received a medic call to alert us that in less than 10 minutes, they would be bringing a 50 year old male who was pulseless; CPR in progress. This is never a happy prognosis. Upon arrival, the pt. was a big, strapping, overweight black man with cornrows, still wearing his waterproof construction pants. He had been on the job site, and had collapsed, vomited, and was unresponsive. When the medics arrived, apparently he had no pulse, so they commenced with CPR and then got a pulse back, and a shockable rhythm. They shocked him and followed the ACLS algorithm with the appropriate drugs and electricity. Twice, they were able to "get him back," as we call it. Probably his soul was gone, but his heart responded with a normal rhythm for a few seconds, and a palpable pulse. That's plenty to give...