Posts Tagged ‘E.R.’

help is here!

Great news! Volunteers at my hospital get to be in line for vaccinations. Yay!

I just filled out a “Covid-19 Vaccine Interest Questionnaire” answering questions like :

“Do you come in contact with patients where you’re less than 6 feet apart? YES.

“Do you work in areas where there are known active Covid-19 cases? YES.

Not sure how long the list is, but it’s exciting to be on it. Dr. A and Anthony Chan got the vaccine yesterday and feel great.

Hope it’s like the flu vaccine where it helps to relax your arm when you’re getting it to avoid later aches. Will do my best.

I told Charlayne I’m ready and excited to come back and help! It’s a weird feeling to want to come back, but I do. I really do. Read the rest of this entry »

At my hospital ER Volunteers are still on “Pause” for Covid, but this week we all got emails saying it’s time to come in for Flu Shots. It’s a mandatory situation for anyone working in our hospital, so we always get them.

Gotta be honest, going back to the hospital after 6 months forced leave felt a little eerie, like walking into a black-and-white Twilight Zone episode where things seem normal but not. Fewer, quieter people walked through the lobby. Hardly anyone was sitting. No Volunteers behind the Information Desk. Just a guard.

Masks are mandatory in the hospital, even on outside bridges. I avoided elevators, wore rubber gloves to open doors and skipped using the restroom.

A nurse whisked me through the vaccination process – I barely had time to fill out my form. Probably was there eight minutes tops, and that included a short, socially-distanced wait in line.

Thinking about everyone in the ER…

I took the outside stairs down to the ER and hung out by the automatic glass doors just long enough to wave to Anthony Chan, wearing a face shield over his mask, triaging a patient.  It didn’t feel right to walk in, yet…

Dr. A’s car was the parking lot, so I left him a cute note on his windshield. I wonder when he’ll find it…

I miss all my friends/co-workers — Dr. A, Anthony Chan, Mira, Tyrell, Miguel — even Charlayne.  I miss the patients and their families, the EVS workers, the paramedics, the doctors, the nurses. I miss helping. I miss giving hugs. I miss being in on the action. I even miss the bad coffee in the employee lounge. I especially miss the non-paranoid, non-mask-wearing me.

Who knows about Covid, but at least I won’t get the flu…

I’m glad I got my flu shot at the hospital because I’ve definitely built up a lot of anxiety about the place. It felt less scary than I’d anticipated. But not going-back-to-work comfortable yet.

So strange, these times. Fears get magnified. The known feels unknown. Normal feels like an unattainable dream…

Frontline Workers will be among the first to get the Covid vaccine. Is an ER Volunteer a Frontline Worker? Google doesn’t have the answer. If Google doesn’t have the answer, what’s the world coming to?

I sometimes wonder… a lot actually…

(I wonder how he liked the note…)

The NEWS is BUMMING ME OUT. Big shock. It’s bumming everyone out. Divisiveness, name-calling, blame-gaming – it’s happening every day, obnoxiously… sooooo obnoxiously!

What happened to —

• “Live and Let Live”
• “Agreeing to disagree”
• “Doing onto others…   ???

Why can’t our government work more like a hospital?

One of the things I really like about Volunteering in the ER is that it’s an equalizer. Old, young, rich, poor, black, white, brown, yellow, educated, uneducated, males, females, gays, lesbians, gender non-specifics… everyone gets sick. Everyone has accidents. Everyone needs medical assistance at one time or another.  Doctors, Nurses, Surgeons, Anesthesiologists, EMTs, Clinical Partners, Radiologists, Environmental Service People come in all colors, all ethnicities, all religions, all economic groups, and guess what – everyone manages to successfully work together. Go figure. 

As a volunteer I always try to find the common ground. It’s always bonding in some way. Finding the common ground immediately helps the other person relax. It’s easier to solve problems when we’re not biting each other’s heads off.

Let’s bring back civility. Let’s listen to each other, learn from each other and find the common ground.

Wish someone would help us relax on a national basis, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen any time soon.

We need to reclaim our humanity and make America kinder again…

Enuff said. 

Otis and Maeve – mixed messages

SEX EDUCATION, a bawdy, bold and big-hearted British comedy series on NETFLIX, is about a 16-year old boy (Otis) with a Sex Therapist Mom (Jean) who gets talked into going into business with a badass cool girl (Maeve.) Maeve spreads the word that Otis is a sex therapist for high-schoolers. BUT Otis is totally inexperienced and in fact can’t deal with his own sexuality… yet he’s surprisingly intuitive when it comes to dealing with the problems of other teens.

awkward and awesome!

Otis and his Mom – love/hate

It’s a little bit of a parallel universe for me, since I’m someone who hates hospitals (especially the one my Mom frequented when she was dying)… yet now I’ve ironically extended my community service sentence voluntarily because (spoiler alert) I’m actually pretty good at helping others deal with being at the hospital. Go figure.

SEX EDUCATION’s outstanding cast is led by Asa Butterfield, as the nerdy inexperienced sex-pert. Gillian Anderson plays his frank, ff-ingly free and boundary-less mother.  Emma Mackey is brilliantly tender and tough in a break-out role that I would’ve loved to have gone out for before I aged-out of hottie-in-high-school parts. So sad…

I laughed and cringed as I binge-watched all eight episodes. It definitely left me wanting more… much more.

scene from a sex manual

True story. A couple of weeks ago…

I’m in Santa Monica, parked on Wilshire Blvd near 3^rd Street Promenade on the far-far right by the curb, facing the Ocean.  The sun is super bright, blinding me.  So I lean over the steering wheel to block out the sun and read/answer an email. Okay, yeah, I admit, it’s a long email.

SUDDENLY I hear a slow siren, then a Man’s DEEP VOICE over a LOUDSPEAKER.  My head pops up. Whaa?!

OMG! An enormous FIRE TRUCK is heading directly toward me! In my parking lane! On the wrong side of the street! Y I K E S!

My eyes dart from side-to-side. Where’s the fire?!

The bellowing VOICE:

Is everything all right?

What did I do wrong? Read the rest of this entry »

Last night…  It’s a  typical night in the ER: one rainbow-haired “5150” who thinks he’s Jesus, restrained to the gurney;  two passionate hikers covered in red welts, itching in all the wrong places;  several “gunshot wounds” with gang members in the waiting room, demanding to know the status. Friendly? Or there to finish off the job?  I’m glad to have an excuse to leave for ten minutes when Triage Nurse, Anthony Chan shoves a wheelchair toward me with a Maternity Mom in it and a Dad next to it.

“Volunteer, take this couple up to L & D. Stat!”

On it! Gladly! I call up to L & D and tell them I’m on my way.

The Perils of PUSHING —

I speed-roll Maternity Mom +  Dad into the empty elevator.  Doors start to close, but a GIANT HAND intervenes. In walks a 6’6″ man attached to it. Uh-oh! With glares and territorial behavior happening in this elevator, it’s suddenly apparent… this  pregnant party isn’t a Couple… it’s a THRUPLE!!!

Maternity Mom (doubling over): “ooooooouuuuuuu…. eeeeehhhhhh….. ahhhhhhhhh!

Dad #1:” ” What are you doing here?”

Dad #2:  “What the fuck are you doing here?”

Maternity Mom: “owwwww…. Owwwwwww… OWWWWWWW!”

Me: “Breathe.”

(Maternity Mom assumes the pushing face.)

Me: “Short breaths, fff–fff—fff”

Dad #1:  “Girl, I gave you everything!”

Dad #2 : “Nuh-uh, she needed more.” (pointing to his crotch.)

Maternity Mom: I need a BATHROOM!

Me: Don’t push.

Dad #1 to Dad #2: Fuck you!”

Dad #2 (louder):  “Fuck you!”

Maternity Mom: “Ow… OW…OWWWW… FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!

(Exactly what got them all into this mess.)

Me: C’mon guys, obstetrics wasn’t covered in Volunteer Orientation!

Me: “Short breaths, blow, fff–fff–fff”

Dad #1:   “Breathe, baby —

Dad #2:   “Baby heart, you got this —

Maternity Mom:  “OWWWWWW! I’ve gotta get this outta me!”

(DING! Elevator door opens!)

Me: “CODE: BABY-COMING-OUT!”

(The Charge Nurse grabs the wheel chair)

Charge Nurse: “Taking her to Three. ”

(Dads shove each other out of the way. Charge Nurse blocks them.)

Charge Nurse: “Both of you. In the waiting room. Now! Don’t make me call Security.”

The door to Three closes. At last I can breathe.

I text Niles: “OMG, almost delivered a baby in the elevator”

PING! Incoming from Niles — Seth Meyers’ wife didn’t even make it that far.

OMG! SETH MEYERS’ WIFE Labored in the LOBBY!

YIKES!

Yesterday on my ER shift I almost go into cardiac arrest when I realize I’ve just fed a stack of crucial records for a critical Patient (currently in an ambulance speeding toward the ER) through the slot of a trash bin designated for shredding! In horror my eyes land on the big fat PADLOCK blocking my next move!  Nooooo!

Flash-back several minutes —

In the Waiting Room  Triage Nurse Anthony Chan, in his usual pissy mood, shoves two stacks of papers in my hands —

Personally hand this to the Charge Nurse and no one else, STAT! And stick these in the shredder bin. Within your skill-level, Volunteer?

I burst through the doors into Trauma, but the Charge Nurse isn’t there and no one knows where she is. I head toward the nearest Trash Bin to get rid of the other stack, but I run into Dr. A, who distracts me by making my heart beat faster (not my fault). Nonchalantly I slip the papers through the slot, flash him my killer smile and mosey on back to Triage…

I freeze when I spot Anthony Chan. F<#k! Read the rest of this entry »