Bliss

Someone once said that ignorance is bliss.

Guess that explains why I am so happy all the time; all the ignorance.

Take Thursday as an example: I was in the operating theatre with the anesthetist on Thursday afternoon, helping out by inserting IV lines, managing airways, injecting drugs and inserting big tubes down victims, er, patients’ throats. While the patients were under, I was happily asking questions about how this drug worked, and what happens when you pressed that button. (Bad things, it turns out. You have never seen so many people sprint towards a machine to flip a switch back to ‘Breathe’ from ‘Off’. Guess that’s why the switch is red with a ‘Do Not Touch’ label on it. But I digress.)

Anyway, we get the last patient of the day onto the table and put the tube down his throat. The doctor goes to adjust the tube and the end – literally – falls of in his hand. All of a sudden, people are running everywhere, talking excitedly, finding equipment, tripping over cords, grabbing back-up parts, adjusting machines, sprinting to other theatres to get pieces, injecting more drugs. And where was Bryan the Med Student through all of this?

Standing in the way, thinking ‘Wow – this is neat! I wonder what’s happening?’

Seems that when that bit fell off, it turned into an anesthetic emergency, as the hose from the breathing machine couldn’t provide air to the patient. Yes, I now realize the emergency, but at the time I honestly thought we could just tape the two pieces back together – after all, the patient was having a short procedure, and as far as I can figure, you can fix anything with duct tape.

Hey, nobody ever said I was the sharpest tool in the shed…

But I knew something was really wrong when I looked at the anesthetist as things were settling down – we found a new tube with all the pieces in good-working order, got it inserted into the patient and made sure he was still moving air – and he was sweating, shaking, and white as a ghost.

And he’s from India.

With that, it’s the weekend. I don’t have any major plans for the weekend, just relaxing, enjoying the nice weather – 80 degrees and sunny – and maybe some studying, if the mood strikes. Not to mention getting a new roll of duct tape….

As always, Love to All and keep working on your 101 list!
Bryan