A Cigarette for Breakfast?

Monday, July-05-10

Last night I had my first regular night shift and I really enjoyed it. Only having to go in at 11pm gave me an extra day to the weekend which meant I got to redeem my missed day at the beach and get some much need groceries. From the moment the shift started I knew it was going to be very chill. There were only 6 of us at the station, two teams of 3 (1 Regile and 1 Natan-ICU unit) which made it feel kind of homey. My first call came within 15min of the shift’s start. It was a regular call (non-urgent) to an elderly lady who had been vomiting for the last few hours, my first vomit encounter of the summer. We arrived and yep...it was all over the floor, fantastic. At least she didn’t throw-up in the ambulance, that being once we finally got into the ambulance. This family was probably the most dysfunctional family I have met thus far. No one could agree on anything—whether an ambulance should have been called in the first place, what hospital they should go to, who should get to ride with her, etc. By the time we actually got to Ichilov it was well over an hour and a bit later. Normally once you arrive at a hospital dispatch gives you 20-30min to transfer your patient, complete the paperwork, and of course have a cigarette. This time however our break was cut short, probably since there are fewer ambulances on call overnight. Our next call was to Shuk HaCarmel (the outdoor market), where apparently there was a fight. We got there and just after the police and there was actually no one there to be seen/treated. Not at all surprising, but the Shuk was neat to see at night with everything put away and locked as opposed to during the day when it’s packed with people. Next was a call which I name a homeless check. Some see a homeless person sleeping on the ground, assumes they are dead and calls in the ‘emergency’. We get there, the man is just fine and we leave. Now it’s about 2:30am and we were headed back to the station for the first time since the shift began when we get our next call. There was a fight at one of the bars at the namal (port) and dispatch tells us that it’s a head stabbing! We race there and arrive to a male (20-25y/o) who is lying on the ground, obviously very drunk, and covered in blood. He is conscious, but very out of it/drunk so we load him up quickly, clean off the wound (about 1.5inches long just inside his front hairline), bandage it up, and get him to the hospital fast. This time we get our full 20-30min at the hospital but spend most of it clean the blood off the ambulance and stretcher. I’m content though, at least it wasn’t a transfer and there was some action to keep me awake tonight. We returned back to the station at about 3:30-4am and we didn’t get another call until 6am. It was nice to get a break since I was now pretty tired, but I didn’t really sleep since I was always listening for the next call over the speakers-it’s kind of hard to hear and the drivers have personal beepers. At 6am we got our last call of the shift. It was a young adult male whose nose had begun bleeding the evening before and just never stopped. I would have never expected there to be more blood from a nose bleed than the head stab, but I was wrong. We get him to the hospital and waited there long enough to insure that that would be our last call. Almost every time we are just waiting outside the emergency entrance everyone always has a cigarette. The paramedics/medics, doctors, nurses, and even patients still hooked up to IV’s all smoke, even at 2,3, 6 o’clock in the morning! I think I get offered a cigarette at least 2 times per shift, and no I don’t smoke. In fact I may be wrong, but I don’t think I have yet to work with a driver that hasn’t been a smoker. I guess Israel hasn’t gotten the message yet, but it’s quite something to see healthcare workers all smoking, I will definitely have to try and get a picture. Anyways, we returned back to the station and after a quick hello to the morning shift I went home a fell straight to sleep. I actually really enjoyed the overnight more than I thought I would. The atmosphere was completely different to during the day and it was just busy enough. Everyone was relaxed, the roads were clear (we didn’t have to drive with sirens blaring) and the ER was nice and quiet and not packed for once. This afternoon I ended up sleeping for way to long as usual and now I’m in the predicament where I am working the morning shift tomorrow (7am) but am not tired at all. Ah well, it will give me some time to research my courses for next year, which I can begin to select tomorrow.