A dangerous place

When I show up for a shift in the emergency room I scan the board, looking for how many patients are in rooms, how many are in the waiting room, and what injuries and illnesses they're billed as having. My last two night shifts in a row, unfortunately, there were familiar names on the patient list: before each shift one of our own residents was registered as a patient following an injury or exposure during the previous shift.

We sometimes get complacent about it, but it was a reminder that the emergency room can be a dangerous place -- physically, emotionally, and mentally.