pale

it was almost time for me to leave this morning when we got a run (an ambulance). i was a little peeved because the complaint was vaginal bleeding and i said outloud "seriously, a vag bleed coming by ambulance?" i quickly found that the whole "sugar coat your words..." was quite true. she was smiling when she arrived, and to most nurses that pretty much means your ok, especially if your complaint is pain. but i went into the room and started getting her information and i knew after seeing the blood loss that she was in trouble.
she weighed maybe a hundred pounds, she was in her thirties, asian and really pretty. sweet and scared and as white as the sheet on the bed. i kept asking her every couple of minutes if she was ok because all i kept thinking about was what was the worst that could happen? i knew if she got low enough on blood her pressure would drop her heart would race, her oxygen saturation would get low, so i was already a step ahead by having her hooked up so i would know what to do. i covered the bases, got her cleaned up and then waited for the OR to come and take her to surgery because she was 2 months pregnant and miscarrying and was already scheduled for a D&C (they basically go in and clean it up in the uterus). a nurse i used to work with in corpus would refer to is at the dusting and cleaning procedure for the ladies.
it's always amazing to me how when patients come in and they're really bad off, nurses come together to help get the job done. there could be all of us in the room, one starting the IV and drawing blood, one doing an EKG, the other getting information or getting medicines. and it will never get old, saving someone's life. knowing that you just busted your butt to get them stabilized and when you walk away- the whole 12 hour shift, even if it was horrible, was worth it.