October 2013

10/21/2013 (volunteering hours to date: 32 hours)

Well, it’s nearly the end of October… I can’t believe that I’ve been in NOLA for over 3 months now! It’s amazing how time flies.  This month has been quite busy as we had an exam a couple of weeks ago and we have another exam this Thursday. 

Aside from all of the studying, I have continued to volunteer at Touro Infirmary every Sunday.  The past few Sundays have been “relatively slow and calm” and even “boring” according to the Emergency Department staff; I think all of it is fascinating and I enjoy every minute of my time spent there.  Although most of my time is devoted to simply changing bed linens, cleaning exam rooms and making minor adjustments to make the patients comfortable, I delight in the opportunity to help the ED staff and patients of Touro.  This is what volunteering is all about, right?

           

However, this past Sunday will be a day that I remember for a very long time.  Not only did the ED staff entrust me to carry on extra duties, such as taking samples and sending them to the lab, performing EKGs and moving patients from the ED up to other floors of the hospital (e.g. surgery, ICU), but I witnessed something that I had never seen before: I saw someone pass away.  A patient came into the ED coding and after an hour of trying to stabilize him, the doctors and nurses decided to “call it.” 

I have always read about patients coming in with severe complications and despite their many efforts, the doctors were not able to save those patients.  Last Sunday I learned that reading about something in no way compares to witnessing it for yourself in real life.  You watch shows like Grey’s Anatomy or House and the medical staff are almost always able to save these patients… realistically, this just doesn’t happen.   My passion for medicine will not allow this experience to steer me away from my goal to become a physician but that 1-hour ordeal at the Touro ED will forever be a sober reminder that you can’t save everyone.