Trauma in the ER
Michael Gutierrez
July 9, 2010
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Michael Gutierrez
It was 5 pm on a cold November day. I was a third-year medical student heading into my first night on surgery call.
Changing into my scrubs, I wondered what it would be like. I knew that we had to carry a “trauma pager” and, when paged, get to the ER as fast as possible. There my job would be to listen as the ER physician called out his exam findings and enter them on a history-and-physical form.
I felt a mix of things. I was excited about the learning possibilities, but I also knew that whoever gets wheeled through the ER doors is someone’s daughter, son, mother or father. I decided not to think too hard–I’d just take what came my way