Take a Bow and Exit Stage Left

In just one more day, my temporary stay at the ED will finally come to an official end. I still remember the first day we started out here in the department, my friend and I were already counting the days until we leave. For some reason, we felt something amiss that we were already looking forward to finishing up this posting.

Thought I’d put up some of the remaining pics I’ve taken since this will probably be my last thoughts about ED.
As I went back and read some of the posts I’ve written, it struck me that there was one word which I had repeatedly used throughout – interesting. Just the right word to sum it all. Interesting. The really good part about ED is the never-ending challenges of diagnosing patient after patient, and quickly too, in order to provide the most effective treatment to ease the patient’s anxiety and pain and to alleviate the symptoms of the disease in which they present.

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve seen many, many, many patients since being in ED and I bring away oh-so-many memories and stories of which I will remember and cherish for quite a long time. Real life stories from real people facing real problems.

Our trusty ultrasound machine fondly known as Maya. Ah.. I’ve had many good and ‘eye-opening’ sessions with her. These times I will definitely miss.

 

 

 

I told my supervisors on the day of my final assessment that I have learnt to be a better doctor because of ED. I ‘graduate’ from there knowing what it really is like to be among community people coming for various medical needs and critical situations – unlike those in the wards where the emergency has passed.

Charcoal pills – all of the pills shown here are to be swallowed by those who, in their brief moment of irrationality, ingested poison – be it in the form of panadol, sleeping pills, detergents, insecticides, etc

I have learnt and am so much more aware of the weapons in which I possess are powerful enough to treat, also powerful enough to kill. Even water can be poisonous to some. I now know what ED is like on a terribly busy Friday/Saturday night and an extremely hectic Monday morning. My advice: Don’t be a part of that craze!

 

 

Two super enthusiastic doctors who were on duty from the semi-critical zone came by the resus zone where I was on duty that night, just to view some X-rays on our light-box.
Apparently ours was clearer. Look at how intently they examine the film up-close… and on the table too!! lol…

I’ve witnessed the unfortunate who never made it past the golden hour… the young, the old, those who left behind grieving parents and distraught children. I’ve spoken to those whom we thought were living their last hours, but miraculously picked up. I’ve been a part of a wonderful team who resuscitated a patient who entered in not breathing and no pulse, but leaving our zone with a beating heart.

Those were taken from the CT scan films of a young man in his twenties who probably was involved in a road traffic accident. Yup. You guessed it. That’s some serious skull fractures with bleeding within the brain.

I have seen those who mistreated our emergency department for trivial and small medical matters which could have been seen in an ordinary clinic.

I’ve talked to people who are simply clueless about the illness in which they suffer for years.. and some, who would simply refuse to do anything more about it than to have their illness treated when at its worst.

 

 

 

Our little asthma bay. To some doctors, it’s known as a potential for a disaster. Not all who come here are asthmatics.

I have had patients whose medical problems still left us clueless even up to the point of admitting them up to the wards. There are some who are like puzzles where the doctors at ED will simply have difficulty knowing and solving because of the need to ‘dispose’ them to the wards quickly before a clogged up line starts forming… and believe me, it can be so clogged up, we can even term the place ‘like a pasar malam’. I remember one horridly busy day. The resus bell never seem to stop ringing. People just kept pouring in for the worst of emergencies.

See the many tiny needles within the facial tissues? I’ve been told that this was a common practice among some older woman to ’prevent sagging’. This woman was in her 70s. Never knew that.

 

 

I’ve seen many foreigners who with bleeding wounds and broken bones would just walk away from the hospital because they simply cannot afford the treatment which they need most.
I’ve witnessed deliveries of babies of whom their mothers never knew they were pregnant in the first place.

 

 

 

Another X-Ray showing evidences of TB (Tuberculosis)

I step out of this department more grateful for the work of the doctors and other medical staff who are on duty practically at the front doors of the hospital. After working hours after hours in this area of the hospital that never sleeps, I can fully appreciate the hard labour they put in to serve, not just the people as patients, but they in turn, served other departments in many unseen but vital ways.

Thanks, ED.

I was a little bored while working at the wee hours of one night shift. I try to walk around to keep myself awake at night.. or I might just snooze off in front of the patient!