Mar 21 - 29
1) And just like that, our group is done with Emergency Medicine! It has been a hectic week, doing morning shifts and evening shifts for the past week, but we definitely learnt a lot. Throughout the rotation, we were attached to different "zones" within the department. Essentially, patients presenting to the Emergency Department (ED) can be classified into trauma vs non-trauma cases. Most trauma cases would involve road traffic accidents, although falls are quite common too. Trauma cases need to be assessed for severity, and priority is given to the patients that are in the most critical state, followed by those in semi-critical condition, and finally those that are in stable (non-critical) condition. Patients in the most critical state are sent to the "red zone", those in semi-critical state to the "yellow zone", and finally stable patients to the "green zone" - this is the definition of triage.
2) In addition to the three "zones", the ED houses an observation ward, where patients are monitored quite similarly as in a medical ward, before being discharged. Finally, unique to the hospital we were attached to (Seberang Jaya Hospital), there is also a Medical Emergency Coordination Centre (MECC), where emergency calls are handled. I was attached there for a day, and I learnt a lot about how emergencies are coordinated by region. For example, Seberang Jaya Hospital is the only public hospital that handles emergency calls throughout Penang. So if anyone dials "999", the call is transferred to this centre, where the operator confirms the details and the nature of the emergency.
3) An important point to note (which I suspect not many are aware of) is that the call taker and the ambulance dispatcher are not the same person. Sometimes, callers may be worried the longer they continue talking with the operator, the longer the time taken for help to arrive. This is not the case. Immediately after an emergency call is answered and the location confirmed, an ambulance is dispatched from the nearest available hospital or health clinic. The reason the operator continues asking further questions is to ascertain the extent and severity of the injury/condition, to check if more than one person is involved, and whether there are other hazards in the vicinity. Also, certain procedures can actually be taught over the call, for example how to perform CPR, or how to tie a wound to stop bleeding, or even how to perform or assist an emergency delivery!
4) I really enjoyed my time in emergency medicine. We managed to sit in on two CME (continuous medical education) sessions, where we learnt about primary and secondary surveys (done on patients presenting with polytrauma), as well as stroke management. CME sessions are intended for house officers and medical officers alike, as a means to keep up to date with the latest guidelines. Furthermore, I noticed that everyone in this department worked very well together, like a well-oiled machine. We would see medical assistants, nurses, house officers, and medical officers work together, each doing separate tasks, all working to stabilise and monitor the patients in each zone. What struck me the most was how relaxed these people were - they were doing things that would in any other setting cause a lot of chaos and panic, but instead they remained calm and collected.
5) Next week onwards, we will be switching to the department of radiology, also in Seberang Jaya Hospital. I hope that radiology will be just as interesting as emergency medicine has been. Until then, I'm just going to enjoy whatever "free time" I have left haha. Thanks for visiting my blog as always, and have a great week ahead. Cheers!
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