Called again for a "code blue." Deep into a night-shift, I was bleary, but perked up when Dr. Tajmahal showed up for this event too. Should be good for comic relief, and since there were a bunch of ICU nurses there, I was pretty confident the patient wouldn't be harmed.
He's a scrawny little Indian guy. Hides in his white lab coat, trying not to look terrified, confused, confounded. He sees me smirking at his presence. I know he must have gotten his degree from a mail-order catalogue.
The ICU nurses are following ACLS protocols, giving meds and assessing the patient. I'm bagging her; she's already intubated, has been on the ventilator for a couple days already. Dr. Tajmahal looks awed. One of the ICU nurses asks him if he wants to cardiovert the patient (shock the heart to restore a functional rhythm). Dr. Tajmahal cringes. No, he doesn't want to do that without a Cardiologist present. You mean a Real Doctor, our faces all say. We smile behind our hands. We know he is just a formality, we could save this patient without him. I think he knows it too.
The patient lives. We go on about our shift. I wonder if Dr. Tajmahal goes to the bathroom and cries. I would if I were him.
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