The Deluge.

Tonight was completely nuts!

I came on to a shift, where half the computers were not functioning at full capacity, we were down two clerks; and to top it all off I had the fact that I was training a new girl thrown at me, right when I walked in the front door.

As a clerk in Emerg, you either sink or you swim. You are either the kind of person who can deal with a fast-paced, multi-tasking, sanity-depleting enviroment or can't. I usualy can tell within the first 20 minutes of training someone whether they are up for the task,. Luckily she was. Thank goodness.

It was all quiet on the homefront until around 8:30 pm. As I said we were down two clerks; a preferred acommodation clerk ( who goes around to the patient's bedsides to see if they want private or semi private rooms )...this clerk also will come out front if the regular clerking staff needs a helping hand; and we were short a treament clerk, who does all the non acute patients. So basically it was up to my collegue and I do admit all the patient's in the largest hospital in the city. Good times.

So, like I mentioned it was fairly laid back, until the floodgates opened at 8:30pm. All of a sudden we had 6 EHS crews pull up. One with a CTAS 1, intubated, 19-year-0ld overdose, the rest with abdo pains, and general weakness; along with 7 more treamtent patients.

Manuevering around the triage area when there are so many crews and people clogging it up can be a real health hazard. I have been endowed with a few lovely violet bruises on my leg from running into EHS gurneys in my hunt to find patients needing wrist bands.

Needless to say we were running around trying to get everyone registered and in to the proper wait rooms, on top of that I had to talk to the overdose victims family.

I walked into the trauma bay to find the victims father standing by her bedside. He was a wreck. I will never get use to the terrified look in victims families eyes, looking so lost and helpless; and you know that there is nothing you can say that can help. He kept telling me how she had enrolled in school to finish her highschool degree, and how she was doing "so much better". The worse part is when she start waking up and thrasing against her restraints in the bed. That is never a pretty sight.

Anyways, now I am at home in bed, and can't sleep...still trying to decompress from my shift; listening to the Bloc Party and watching time tick on by.