Theatre visits for Pharmacology were pretty badly organised, even after what I've come to expect from UWA preclinical visits. One timetable said 1pm and the other said 1:30, and the registrar had been given nothing on what we were supposed to do. So I got there after the 'welcome to the hospital, here's how to put on scrubs' talk, dozed through some pretty basic theory ("we basically have no idea why general anaesthetics work"), and then snagged a spot watching some plastic surgery. As predicted, standing around and avoiding questions about rocuronium (and anatomy).
The graduate-entry students I'm with duck out after about half an hour to go and pick up children, but I still want to hang around because I haven't seen a lot yet. I do a top-notch job of standing out of the way and following an anaesthetist down corridors, although I do notice a few things about the operations of a working surgical suite. Eventually, the second patient arrives. The anaesthetist turns to me, says "well, would you like to get hands-on?" and hands me a breathing mask. I consider donning it but realise it's actually for the patient, and then suddenly I'm keeping this patient's airway open and pushing air into their lungs as the propofol depressed their urge to breathe. After a couple of minutes of me trying not to let my concentration slip, their carbon dioxide levels rose enough that they started breathing again, just the way it should happen.
I kept a person alive today, and, actually, it feels pretty special.
(River Phoenix was not on propofol; it's an incredibly safe drug.)
3 comments
nephron :: Saturday, July 28th
Propofol isn't that safe if you inject it outside a medical setting.
And heroin is really pretty safe in a operating room setting. Not preferred, but safe.
Velithya :: Saturday, July 28th
grats! :) welcome to the medical profession.
Sheeba :: Saturday, July 28th
*is so v.jealous*
