Ever since we started our duty in ER, I had mixed emotions.

Anger – I am so pissed with some junior interns (clerks), staff nurses, and resident doctors. Just because it is a public hospital, the ideal procedures, rules and the like are not followed. There was this one pregnant patient who just came in who had a very high blood pressure. The relatives said that the amniotic sac¹ already ruptured. From what I’ve learned in school, once the amniotic sac ruptures, it is very important to attend to the patient. This is one of the signs that the baby will come out from the mother’s womb. So I approached the ER clerks and resident doctors and told them about her case. That time, they were all so busy because a lady just gave birth in the ER. I insisted them to come and see the patient, at least one of them. I was so thankful that a clerk decided to attend the patient’s needs… but after a minute or so, I was so disappointed of him. He told us, “matagal pa yan!” What?! This patient has gave birth for five times in the past years and the sac had already ruptured! Plus, she has a very high blood pressure that is very dangerous to her health. How come you’d react that way? I was so worried but I couldn’t do anything… so I just waited… And then suddenly, I heard the residents shouting at the clerks… “Sino ito?! Anong ginagawa niya dito?!! Bakit di nyo sinabi!! BILISAN NYO! DALHIN NIYO NA SA DR²! G6³ na pala ito!! Ano ba! Bakit walang nagsabi!! Palabas na yung bata!!!” The next thing I know, I was running with the staff nurse, two clerks who kept shouting at the patient not to bear down and my co-volunteer while we were taking the patient on the stretcher to the DR. I could hear my heart beating rapidly. I was so mad! I did tell the clerk about the patient! And he just ignored it. Damn!

Grief – We had another patient this morning who just gave birth with a 5-month-fetus. It was a miscarriage. I saw the  fetus on the adult diaper. The fetus isn’t fully developed yet so it was all bloody. I’ve seen aborted babies a couple of times but I couldn’t help to get teary-eyed every time I see babies being aborted due to some unexpected circumstances. Then my co-volunteer heard the woman said to her husband, “Sorry, pa.” =(

Another incident, a man had a silent heart attack. He just drunk alcohol the night before then the next day, he couldn’t breathe and passed out. We were all wondering why the wife didn’t look worried. We were so amazed that she stayed calm while watching her husband being revived through CPR⁴. When the doctors tried to perform ECG, the machine just printed out a flat line. He’s dead on arrival. And you know what happened? When the doctors told the wife that he’s gone, she just shouted and cried. I assumed that she thought that they could still revive his husband. She was so crying out loud. I could feel the pain. She even shouted, “Ako yun may sakit eh!! Hindi ikaw! Bakit ikaw ang nauna?!! Bakit mo kame iniwan kaagad!!” I couldn’t help but cry while watching a telenovela-like scenario. I controlled my tears but they just started rolling down my cheeks. Gosh, I hate scenarios like this!

Excitement – Thanks to some staff nurses who were so understanding and cooperative. =D They let us do some nursing procedures even if we were only told by the training officers to OBSERVE. They told us not to tell the “authorities” about violating the rules… Haha! XD  Of course, we wouldn’t tell them. This is what we wanted in the first place! Act like a staff nurse! I just wish we won’t get caught again. Hehehe!

We only have two days left in the ER. We will be rotated next week in another ward. I’ll miss ER… everything about it – the mixed emotions, the thrill, and also the air-conditioned surrounding⁵.

1. a sac that is full of fluid, called amniotic fluid, in which the baby develops [↩]
2. delivery room [↩]
3. pregnant for 6 times [↩]
4. cardiopulmonary resuscitation [↩]
5. because the other wards are just using electric fans [↩]