Life in A&E

I have finished my last night shift in A&E. It's been a whirlwind on Thursday night when it was soooo busy throughout the night. The cases were non-stop until 630am in the morning! Though they tapered off from 3am onwards, there are still patients who could walk and would come up to the counter for xray instead of us having to go to the Critical Care area to do the xrays. Argh. And there were many youngsters... Mmm... People in their 20s to 30s? I wonder why they were there in the middle of the night. It's not even the weekend. Ran away from home and hope to stay a night in the hospital? Hah!

I think I managed to catch some shut-eye, for 15mins? 20mins? Power nap that was at 5am.

Oh, and this supposedly 'backlog' was caused by the closure of THAT dear hospital in the north for 4 hours from 12-4pm! What the?! I heard from a staff nurse that Wed night was even worse as we managed to 'clear' the patients on Thurs. Mmm... I cannot imagine how Wed night was like, with Thurs night already horrible enough...

Anyway, night shift does funny things to me. At least in A&E. I did not feel like this when I was doing night shifts in IPS. I guess cuz it's busier in A&E and the atmosphere is still very 'lively' and the whole place is brightly lit with all the staff awake and walking around. Whereas in IPS, it's just me and my HCA. The light is often dimmed and we sitting at the front counter, staring into the computers, surfing internet or reading. Boring.

Thoughts of contemplation of the meaning of Life comes to me at times. When I encountered cancer patients sometimes, and they had to admit into A&E in the dead of night cuz of shortness of breath or extreme pain.

When there are RTA (road traffic accident) patients rushed in, and the healthcare personnel would be doing their best to do everything they could to preserve their lives.

When there are drunkards who got into a brawl and have to be admitted, with accompanying policemen.

When there are clubbers who have actually danced till they dislocated their shoulders! (This is real! I had such a patient before!)

When there are heart patients who might have suffered from a transient ischaemic attack and are admitted to locate an impending time bomb of thrombus or aneurysm which would ultimately cut their short their life.

When there are party animals dressed to kill, reeking of smoke and alcohol, slumped on the trolley and vomitting their guts out...

One can only encounter such cases when u work in the hospital at night. This was the only saving grace for me after I learnt of having to do night shifts during the schooling days. I remember trying to psycho myself to think of these as exciting and challenging as what u would see in dramas like 'ER' and such. And I even said I might choose A&E to be the permanant centre I am going to be in after a year.

Yeah, I had chosen, but not given my choice. And I have chosen them for different reasons. But now, the very reasons that had sparked off my interest of working in A&E are what I guess I have been looking for in this line.

Being a radiographer has never ever crossed my mind in the younger days. This is not my ideal career at all. However, as I am drawn into this, I make the best out of it. And it certainly never occurred to me that the kind of cases and patients I meet actually help shape and further compounded on my attitudes towards Life. And I found this realisation in the very department I am in now. This is certainly another HUGE plus factor why I would love to remain in A&E. I do not think my colleagues would think that far and I would not bother to explain this particular reason to them, for they do not know me. That I think so deep. Most probably, they would dismiss me as a person who think too much!

On Thursday night, there were 3 patients admitted for multiple stab wounds. The resuscitation room was jam packed with patients and all the patients required xrays! I was tested to the max, as my partner was at the other side and there were no cases there. But he did not know that it would be so busy here too. I had the thought of how he was relaxing while I was slogging away. However, he did come by after an hour after seeing that I was not back for so long.

The 3 patients got to be my bloodiest cases ever. And I saw how stab wounds are actually. They are nothing more than just incisions in your skin actually, but your internal organs would be bleeding for sure. There would not be any bluish-green on your skin, as seen on many RTA patients, as you were not being impacted. But blood could most probably be flowing non-stop from an outlet.

As I neared the patient, the smell of the blood, the smell of iron actually, was strong. Groaning away in pain, I had to obtain several xrays before they wheeled her into the operating theatre. There were many other personnels around her, all doing their best to make sure she was going to make it.

I was very curious. There were so many questions in my mind. Who would stab these 3 people? 2 ladies and a man. Middle-aged. They are Indians, and they do not seem like they are locals. A robbery? They are like our neighbourhood uncles and aunties, what feud could have cause this?

I never did find out the reason. Nevertheless, this is the kind of case that have unknowingly made me fell in love with A&E. As much as there are MANY crappy people coming in for the most minor ailment and hence treating A&E like a polyclinic, there are also genuine cases waiting to be tended to, waiting to be given a helping hand from the gates of Death. And I have witnessed some really caring and selfless nurses who have such a good temper. Gosh, they must really be angels in the form of human beings.

U can get numbed. U can become desensitized. Especially towards those crappy cases. However, when the time comes, your heart string would be tugged and u know when u have to give, even though there may be no thanks. And it might be hard to get the patient's cooperation.

After writing so much, I am still going to be transferred. I felt terrible last week. The entire Mon-Wed was spent moaning over my fate. More or less. I learnt to move on. I was trying to psycho myself into thinking life at IPS would not be so bad. What a lie. Talk about such life philosophies to my BIG BOSS? Nah! They would most probably pass u off as a 23-year-old who have not seen much of Life yet. I feel like telling them I would most probably have experienced much more things and emotions than they had at my age. Hmph.

I am going to miss the work here definitely. The environment, the colleagues, the atmosphere, the busyness, the camaderie, the off days! Sigh. I am so going to make sure I am transferring back in Oct when the expansion starts. I have have always fought for what I want in my life, and I certainly am not giving in so easily to such a bureaucratic organisation.


I am a part of all that I have met. ~Alfred Lord Tennyson

Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~Henry David Thoreau