another stretcher entered the ER with two paramedics in tow. ‘Hit and run on Mundy Street. Suspected fractured femur. Female, seventy-three years of age.’
‘Dr Steele, once you assess your patient, if there’s no immediate risk, please leave him with the nurses and attend to our elderly patient,’ a deep voice called out from beside the young female patient in the adjacent bay. Jessica could see the back of a tall man in a white consultant’s coat. He stood over six foot, close to six foot two, she guessed. The deepest brown, almost black hair and a commanding presence by the way everyone looked to him for instruction. She suspected he was the Head of ER about whom Errol had been speaking only moments earlier.
Jessica watched the young doctor speak briefly with the two nurses and then, as instructed, head over to the paramedics and the new arrival.
It certainly was a busy Emergency Department, just as Errol had told her only minutes before, but it was running smoothly and that was no easy task as there were already patients in another two bays being attended by staff. Jessica couldn’t help but agree the department was a well-oiled machine. No one hesitated or appeared to be second-guessing. The Head of ER was, in Jessica’s mind, to be admired. It took a high level of calm, an ability to triage patients and manage staff with a good understanding of their strengths and their skills to maintain a calm environment for the patients.
Jessica watched on in silence as the empty bay was filled with another patient, transferred from the stretcher onto the hospital gurney. That level of synergy and professionalism was exactly what she hoped to maintain in Paediatrics during her time at the hospital.
But within moments that very calm began to dissipate.
The young man left in the nurses’ care suddenly tugged his arm away from the petite nurse and attempted to climb down from the bed. His feet were almost on the ground.
‘It’s all my fault...it’s all my fault,’ he repeated loudly, the words spurred by unbridled emotion. ‘I need to see her. I need to say sorry and see she’s okay.’
Jessica was aware the young nurse was struggling to contain the situation and the ER did not need an overly emotional patient breaking free and interfering with another patient’s treatment in order to purge his guilt.
Jessica spun around to the dispenser behind her and donned a pair of disposable gloves and a disposable gown from the top of a nearby pile. ‘Excuse me, Professor. I’d like to start my shift now, if that’s all right with you.’
Errol looked a little confused but nodded as Jessica headed over to the bay where the ruckus was taking place.
‘I’m Dr Ayers and I’d like to help you,’ she announced as she firmly placed her hand on his legs and then lifted them back onto the gurney.
The nurses both looked at Jessica in surprise and she picked up on their confusion.
‘I thought you could use some assistance. I’m locum Paediatric Consultant. I commenced at the hospital this morning and must apologise that I’ve not been issued with my ID yet,’ she told them as she motioned towards Errol, aware her current clothing, still visible under the thin blue gown, made her look anything but a medical professional. ‘Professor Langridge can vouch for me.’
The older nurse glanced over at Errol, who was nodding his consent, while the younger one took Jessica at face value and together they attempted to control the situation.
‘Can you please give me your name?’ Jessica asked the young patient while she assessed the proximity of the medical equipment within the bay. A stethoscope lay on the portable trolley nearby so she scooped it up and popped it around her neck. The young man began to calm slightly as if he knew fighting was futile as the nurse attached the monitors to him to record his heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen saturation.
‘I want to help you while the medical team in the bay opposite help the young woman who came in with you. Her injuries clearly appear more serious but we will be undertaking a medical examination of you to ensure that yours are in fact only superficial. In motor vehicle accidents you can sustain internal injuries that are not instantly apparent. Before I begin, can I have please have your full name and age?’
‘Cody Smith, and that’s my girlfriend over there,’ he said as he raised his hand and pointed to the other bay.
‘Can you please give me her name and age?’ the young nurse asked. ‘So I can pass that information onto the ER team looking after her.’
‘Let me tell them,’ he said, trying to pull away from the nurses again. ‘I just want to say I’m sorry to her.’
‘That won’t be happening. Please remain still; I need to check your eyes.’ Jessica’s words were firm and to the point as she held his chin and shone the light into the young man’s left eye and then the right one.
‘My eyes are fine. They’re not bleedin’ or nothing.’
‘Cody, as I said before, some injuries are not obvious so there won’t necessarily be bleeding, but a mild head injury can still be sustained from a car accident. You may have suffered whiplash and it can result in impaired vision or other problems and symptoms are varied. Do you have trouble focusing your eyes when switching your gaze between near and far objects?’
‘Nah, I’m good,’ he replied. ‘I can read the exit sign and her name thing.’ He pointed to the nurse’s identification tag.
‘Do you feel nauseous, as if you are going to vomit when you look around?’
‘Nah, I’m all good, I told you already. It’s me girlfriend I’m worried about.’
‘No, Cody. That is not an option,’ she continued. ‘Even if you are fine, you need to understand that if you were to rush over there to help her, you would in fact be doing just the opposite. You could get in the way of the medical team and put your girlfriend at risk.’
‘I don’t wanna do nothing but help her.’
‘Then, as the nurse said, you can help her by giving us her name and age.’
‘Ginny Randolf. She’s seventeen.’
‘Thank you,’ Jessica said as she continued the examination and noted his response to the light stimulation was within normal limits.
‘I’ll pass on her details and come right back,’ the younger nurse said as she headed over to the other patient.
‘And how old are you?’ Jessica enquired while checking the young man’s pupils for dilation.
‘I’m sixteen.’
‘Okay, Cody, we are going to have to take some blood samples and check your alcohol level. Have you been drinking?’
‘No. I’m on my probationary licence. That’s not why we crashed. Is that what you think happened? Do you think I was drink-driving?’ His voice was shrill and once again Jessica needed to placate him.
‘I’m not assuming anything.’ Her voice was low and calm as she met his eyes. ‘This is routine and not because I suspect anything, Cody. It’s just that with any motor vehicle accident a blood test for alcohol and other drugs is mandatory.’
‘I can’t drink on a probationary licence.
