We had a pretty bad case come into the ER a few days ago ...
We had just gotten through with assessing/charting/caring for a room full of injured and/or sick people. We were ready to take a quick breather, so we could relax and collect our thoughts, maybe get a snack or something to drink.
No such luck.
Not even ten minutes after we'd sent the last patient away on crutches and a boot on his foot (he'd broken his ankle when he fell off the ladder while shingling his roof), the radio crackled to life, telling us that an adult male patient was on its way to the hospital via ambulance; he'd be there within ten minutes.
Gee, thanks for the warning!, I grumbled, Not much time to get things ready for his arrival!
"Okay, guys!" I said, "Time to hustle! A bad one on its way! Guy badly beaten by baseball bat in a fight! Arrival time: ten minutes or less! Time to get cracking!!"
While two nurses wheeled a gurney to the ambulance bay to wait for the incoming ambulance, Louisiana Sandusky, one of our head nurses, barked orders in her strong Cajun accent, telling everyone to be on the ready when the man did come in, and telling us to make sure we had enough in the way of supplies. Just after we'd got the job done, the ambulance arrived at the back bay, dying in mid-wail, as it pulled up to the ER entrance and then stopped.
The doors opened. Soon, the patient was wheeled into the ER, into a trauma room. The man on the stretcher was a mess: blood everywhere, unresponsive to our demands and to stimuli, unconscious, vital signs erratic at best. The paramedic informed us that the man had gotten into an altercation with a Mexican man about the Arizona Law ruling of the other day, and the Mexican man beat the shit out of him by hitting him repeatedly with a baseball bat.
I remember looking at Louisiana Sandusky. She rolled her eyes heavenward as if to say: Lord, help us, and help that poor man!
Lines, monitoring equipment, and such were soon attached to the flaccid man's body after we'd cut his clothes off in a matter of mere seconds. The guy had suspected fractures of the skull, cheekbones, nose, and jaw, and numerous bruises covered his body from torso on down. He was in sad, sad shape.
Well, that's what he gets for stickin' his bigoted nose where it doesn't belong! I kept thinking to myself. Durn idiot probably got what he asked for!!
We didn't know the man's name. We called him "John Doe", which is a common practice of identifying patients whose names we don't know upon arrival. We cleaned him up and treated him as best as we could once we'd gotten the reports from X-ray back, and informed MICU that they were going to be getting a new admit from the ER within fifteen/twenty minutes.
I just hope that the man apologizes to the other guy for fighting. I didn't like the outcome of the ruling by the judge anymore than a lot of people did, but I wasn't going to go around beating people up, just because I didn't happen to agree with them.
The man is now in a regular ward, recovering from his injuries. I am sure he is in a lot of pain ... not to mention, a little wiser for his actions. Sometimes it is just best to keep one's opinions quiet, or there is apt to be trouble, especially in today's day and age!
~Written by Shahday L. Privkar, R.N., Nashville, Tennessee.
