“He’s going into
v-fib!” Some one yells close by.
“Get up you
fools!” I hear the chief of the E.R. yell. “We need all the interns we can
get!”
I shoved the rest
of my sand-which in my mouth, annoyed. I was finally on break!
“Jessica! Are you
coming?” Another intern asks already running to the code blue room.
I groan inwardly
and race to the patient who was fighting for his life. Upon arrival, I was
greeted by a cold stare from the chief.
“Jessica, begin CPR.”
I gulp. “Me?”
“Yes, you! Hurry
up you idiot! Your patient is dying!”
I scampered
towards the patient and placed my hands upon his chest. I pushed hard and began
CPR. Sweat dribbled down my face. I
began to tire quickly. I looked at the cardiac monitor and stopped CPR long
enough to check if there was any progress. There was a flat line.
“Grab the
defibrillator!” The chief bellows in panic.
The
defibrillator is passed to me and I place the paddles on the man’s chest.
“Charge to 200!” I yell. “Clear!” I
shout at the staff in order to warn them of the incoming shock.
“Charge to 300!”
The patient’s body convulsed. “Clear!” I continued to do this for quite a
while.
Soon,
the chief told everyone but me to step back. How am I supposed to do this by
myself?!? I began to panic. My eyes search for the chief. “Chief! Help me!”
“You
will do this alone.”
I kept trying to save the man but
despite how hard I tried, he ended up losing his life.
“Call
it.”
“Time
of death 8:31 p.m.” I said quietly.
The
chief motioned me close. “You just killed your first patient,” he murmured to
me. Then he walked out of the room.
