A whirlwind of emotions and a Ghost from the Past

- Joelle -

The first patient came in and he was passed on to the first resuscitation room where my senior, another colleague and a team of nurses were waiting for him. As soon as the first patient was transferred, the second patient was wheeled on a stretcher in the second resuscitation room. “Get started Joelle, you’ve got this. I’ll be with you ASAP,” my senior shouted from the adjacent room. Right, I thought. This is my day. The day I prove I can do this.

I saw the patient coming in and in spite of him being wheeled in fast I swear I saw it happening in slow motion. Everything seemed to slow down, despite the urgency. “Forty five-ish year old male, involved in a high velocity head on collision. A and B were stable at all times. I am suspecting a femur, right lower limb externally rotated and shortened. Right upper limb severely deformed, and bleeding. Tender at T4 and T5. Also tender left upper quadrant, possible splenic trauma. Hypotensive at 100/60, tachycardic with a pulse rate