I was dreading night call on a Friday (the 13th, never the less) at the trauma hospital. Typically the shift is full of people who were involved in violence or reckless behavior – alcohol causes people to do dumb things. Instead, this call shift happened to be my most well-rounded in residency!
I performed a quick MAC case with IV sedation, then a longer orthopedic case under general anesthesia, then responded to a stat floor intubation (code blue – ongoing chest compressions), placed two peripheral nerve blocks before doing the general anesthetic, and then had an emergent case roll in. Woo!
By the time I got home, I reflected on how the shift went – this is exactly why I went into anesthesiology. The acute care… the applied physiology and pharmacology… and of course the technical skills involved with procedures – such a variety in one call shift! And most importantly, everyone did well immediately postop. 🙂
On another note, this post was published on 3/14/15 at 9:26pm (3.1415926). Happy Pi Day!