In Which I Become an ER Patient

Halfway through a 12 hour shift in the critical care area over the weekend, EMS arrived with a very sick-looking male in cardiac arrest. As the full complement of a resuscitation team flooded the room, I grabbed a stool and took over compressions.

With elbows locked and my head staring down at the patient, I had an aerial view of the nasty brown secretions exploding out of the patient's mouth as the resident attempted intubation. Closing my eyes, I continued compressions while a nurse ran up behind me to slip a face shield over my ear. I turned, gratefully, as she reached the mask across my face and then *BAM*.

Accidentally letting go of the elastic, she snapped the band straight into my eyeball. I continued with one-eyed compressions until another tech relieved me, and then staggered away still seeing (very blurry) stars.

Per policy, I had to sign in for a workplace injury and proceeded to check my own vitals and register myself in the computer. Got my name on the board, my own chart, and a (thankfully) very brief workout. Turns out I have a nice corneal abrasion, for which I did not receive a single dose of narcotic pain medication nor a box lunch.

Can't wait until I get my Press Ganey survey!