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Back into the groove of things.
Nov. 29th, 2007 06:14 pmI'm now back in Chicago after a long time away.
It's been a great ride to warm climes, and now it's time to come back to work.
I'm working in the pediatric ICU this month, and it's been quite an experience already.
A few notes from the past 48 hours back:
1. It's wonderful stuff - I love it, despite the stresses.
2. There appears to be an epidemic of TVs falling on children this year. I've seen a wave of them this summer, and to date, around 5 have been admitted to our ICU.
3. I don't know what is going on with those TVs - the injuries are getting worse and worse.
4. To wit, a little boy came into our PICU around 3 pm yesterday after he climbed a dresser, after which the TV on it fell onto him. He looked bad coming in. His head CT was ugly, and when we got a pressure sensor in, the numbers made us cringe. Things got worse as the day went on, no matter what we did. We pronounced him at 5 this morning.
5. Nobody thinks to secure the increasingly cheap and increasingly enormous televisions that are making it into homes these days from falling onto children.
6. It's amazing how quickly life can turn around. A 8 month old preemie came in early this morning from our affiliated hospital in respiratory and cardiac arrest. The baby had been doing well (except for terrible lungs due to prematurity). Except that he stopped breathing, then his heart stopped beating. After a full court-press, we pronounced him at 9 this morning. The thing was, he was at the outside hospital just waiting for the labyrinth of paperwork required by the state to go home.
7. 4 hours, 2 small lives gone *poof*
8. There is no sound like a mother's scream when she sees that her child has died.
Another day and night coming up in a freezing day. Let's see what rolls in during my call.
Ob-Public Service Announcement from the Pediatrician:
Please secure furniture, and more importantly, heavy objects (such as TVs and other pieces of equipment) placed on that furniture, so that children cannot try to climb that furniture and tip those heavy objects onto themselves.
It's been a great ride to warm climes, and now it's time to come back to work.
I'm working in the pediatric ICU this month, and it's been quite an experience already.
A few notes from the past 48 hours back:
1. It's wonderful stuff - I love it, despite the stresses.
2. There appears to be an epidemic of TVs falling on children this year. I've seen a wave of them this summer, and to date, around 5 have been admitted to our ICU.
3. I don't know what is going on with those TVs - the injuries are getting worse and worse.
4. To wit, a little boy came into our PICU around 3 pm yesterday after he climbed a dresser, after which the TV on it fell onto him. He looked bad coming in. His head CT was ugly, and when we got a pressure sensor in, the numbers made us cringe. Things got worse as the day went on, no matter what we did. We pronounced him at 5 this morning.
5. Nobody thinks to secure the increasingly cheap and increasingly enormous televisions that are making it into homes these days from falling onto children.
6. It's amazing how quickly life can turn around. A 8 month old preemie came in early this morning from our affiliated hospital in respiratory and cardiac arrest. The baby had been doing well (except for terrible lungs due to prematurity). Except that he stopped breathing, then his heart stopped beating. After a full court-press, we pronounced him at 9 this morning. The thing was, he was at the outside hospital just waiting for the labyrinth of paperwork required by the state to go home.
7. 4 hours, 2 small lives gone *poof*
8. There is no sound like a mother's scream when she sees that her child has died.
Another day and night coming up in a freezing day. Let's see what rolls in during my call.
Ob-Public Service Announcement from the Pediatrician:
Please secure furniture, and more importantly, heavy objects (such as TVs and other pieces of equipment) placed on that furniture, so that children cannot try to climb that furniture and tip those heavy objects onto themselves.
