In Case of Emergency

Subtitles by explosiveskull 𝕄_𝕀_𝕊𝔽𝕠𝕣𝔼𝕧𝕖𝕣

In the beginning, I was like, "It'll be okay,"

trying to reassure myself and my family.

But then, as the days grew longer,

it was very clear:

No, it wasn't okay

and it was gonna get worse.

I found that over the past weeks that

I've needed this moment in the morning

just to be quiet

and to think about what's happening.

You know, you take a little moment like,

it's okay to cry right now, 'cause, you know,

my kids aren't gonna see me and be upset, but also,

my colleagues aren't gonna see me,

because I feel like I have to be strong at work too,

for them and for me.

So it's nice to be home and to be

a little bit vulnerable sometimes,

and that's okay, 'cause, uh...

you know, I think everybody has lived through a lot,

no matter where you are.

So it's a precious moment in the morning to be quiet

and to have a few minutes just by myself.

You always know in the back of your mind

something terrible could happen.

A terrible event that you might be involved in

as a healthcare professional,

I think that looms in our minds, we know that.

And yet, everything that's happened has been

sort of surreal.

Even though we knew that COVID was

in other parts of the world,

I don't know that we really understood

how overwhelming this was going to be.

As emergency nurses, we are on the front line,

and when a patient arrives in the hospital,

we're gonna do everything we can

in this moment of time to save their lives.

What brings you to the hospital today?

How's your pain now, on a scale of 0 to 10?

New patient, room 12,

new triage patient, room 12.

Do you feel like you're having difficulty breathing?

Rate's like 25.

126 over 89, pulse 160.

Truly, your ability to care for another

in their greatest moment of need

is in an emergency department.

I have three children, and they'll say,

"Mom, what did you do at work today?"

And I'll say, "Well...

took care of some patients."

I can't explain to them that I had a 46-year-old male

that came in with a gunshot wound to the head.

You know, I can't explain to them

that I held a patient's face against my hand,

and she leaned into me as she was dying.

It's about as real-life as you get.

We are the mirror of society.

If there's an Ebola scare,

if there's a bus that turns over,

if there's the flu season, where do they go?

They come here. We are the safety net.

The trauma surgeon is saying, "Get the patient to OR, now."

The care is not based on whether you're insured or not.

We're the ones that connect with the patients first,

and then we're the ones that advocate for them.

A lot of stuff that comes in here,

you wish you don't see again.

The traumatic events, the gunshot wounds.

I walk in here,

and we'll have had another overdose death.

This opioid epidemic is a crisis.

There is no other place for them to turn,

and so they come to us.

I think most of us are very drawn to the adrenaline.

We're drawn to the fast pace.

We're drawn to the unexpected.

Either it fits your soul or it doesn't.

(mixture of remarks and observations)

Emergency medicine's a very young specialty.

It didn't always exist.

Before, it was the accident ward.

The accident ward was really run by the nurses.

They pulled it all together.

You would come up and you would ring the doorbell

and the nurse would open up the door,

and you would hope they found a team

to take care of the issue.

Everybody says ER,

and technically, actually, it's an emergency department.

We're not just a little room anymore.

I'm very drawn to a large emergency department.

I was attracted to the trauma,

and when we moved to this area,

I'd been stalking St. Joseph's for three years,

'cause I really wanted to come to this hospital.

We are the third busiest emergency department...

freestanding emergency department in the U.S.

So on average, we see between 450 and 500 patients per day.

That's crazy busy.

Begum?

Hello there.

I'm here for translate.

Translate? My name is Kim, I'm one of the nurses.

What brings you in today?

It's like almost three months, right?

That finger, she can't even move,

and it hurts a lot.

A lot of what we do in emergency medicine

comes from the military.

Triage is exactly one of those things

that we've brought to the civilian world.

The triage nurse intercepts every single person

who's coming through the front door,

and that nurse, in our department,

she might see 100 patients in six hours.

All right, I'm just gonna check your blood pressure, okay?

Where in your back is the pain?

- Sciatica... - Sciatica.

...and...

My job is to look at the patient and say,

"Is this patient gonna die if I don't intervene

in the next 10 minutes?"

Who is the most sick, who's gonna use the most resources,

and what level of care does this patient need?

On a scale of 0 to 10,

how would you rate your pain right now?

- Eight. - An eight.

Okay, so you can have a seat back over there,

they're gonna call you from one of the back doors.

You take that with you, okay?

Is there a long wait?

Um, I can't say how long it's gonna be.

It's not too bad right now, though, okay?

(murmur of remarks, conversation)

I'm gonna do it right here.

You're gonna feel a big pinch, okay?

All right.

It happened so fast, just like,

soon as I hopped outta my truck,

the dog just came at me and bit me.

I've been having a pain

for, like, five... three days,

since Tuesday to now.

Since it's getting worse instead of getting better,

I came here to see what's going on.

All right, you ready?

Okay, you can go ahead and lie back.

We're just gonna put you on a cardiac monitor, okay?

It's not just the high-powered trauma,

it's not just about cardiac,

it's everything from your earache and your sore throat

to having a stroke.

Tech to the trauma room, tech to the trauma room!

Sorry, lot of things are gonna happen right now, okay?

- 132 on 98. - Open your eyes for me.

Can we just call for an EKG stat?

Gimme a good cardiac emergency,

a good respiratory emergency!

I am... I love that.

You know where you are right now?

In the hospital, okay.

Okay, what's wrong with this patient?

What do we need to do? What do they need immediately?

What do they need in the next hour?

Can you lift this arm up?

Okay, put it down.

All right, we'll call it a stroke code to make sure...

Lift up this leg.

Your attention, please.

Code stroke, emergency department,

code stroke, emergency department.

You're just constantly with one patient after the other,

and very seldom, it's something very simple.

Every patient has their own complicated story.

Rate's like 25.

I didn't start in the emergency department.

I never actually thought I would end up here.

I was a little nervous at first.

The turnover of patients,

the acuity of patients, I wasn't used to that,

and it just quickly became everything that I loved.

What happened?

Your mom died? I'm sorry to hear that.

You were drinkin' today?

You were trying to detox yourself?

Yeah.

When was the last time you drank?

Alcohol. It's always that.

I tried to detox on my own,

and I thought I was having a seizure.

Just... it's stupid.

I thought I could do it.

I got him... I got this one.

My name's Angel, I'm one of the techs, honey.

We're gonna do an EKG,

we're gonna take a look at your heart really fast,

- okay? - Are you gonna take blood too?