See you again, SMURD!

SMURD logo: for the ED, Ambulance, and Fire

 We had a great last day at the SMURD Emergency Department. We all really want to come back here one day! Tori and myself spent the morning in Yellow Room (Immediate Care) which began quietly but as always, ramped up after a couple hours with patient load increasing to 2-3 beds per bay. Under the guidance of Huni the party animal nurse we honed our cannulation skills and helped where we could amidst the hustle and bustle of green, blue, and orange scrubs. It's the busiest area of ED by far, but the one I've enjoyed most. We got to see Cosmina and Mihai there too, who have been some great mentors! Since there's so many patients in and out there's a lot of different problems; today I learned that a tell-tale sign for patients with liver problems is a blotchy face.
Jason had a pretty good day on the ambulance too with callouts to some short of breath patients and a pedestrian vs train event, in which noone was severely hurt. It doesn't cease to amaze me how Romanians bounce out of so many high acuity transport accidents with comparatively minor adverse health outcomes- it's just miraculous! Of course, in between his jobs Jason was analysing ECG's and sharing discoveries of uncommon rhythms with the rest of us.

VacuMat- great for immobilisation

Resuscitation Scenario

Intubation: video screen of vocal cords and tube being placed in the trachea

In the afternoon Attila took us for some simulation practice in the SMURD training centre. I was introduced to the CT6 splint and applied it to a sim-man just like we have at home. Attila taught us the basics of intubation and we all had a go, aided by some incredible video technology which gives a very clear, otherwise unattainable view of the vocal cords through the procedure. We also ran through a couple of resusciations scenarios and compared protocols. Here in Romania they have actual paddles which you clamp down on the patient to defibrillate, though they are phasing these out to defib pads like we use in Aus.

It was a bit anticlimactic not being able to say goodbye at the end of the day to everyone we'vemet the last few weeks, but then  that's shiftwork. You can never see everyone at once. We did have a cool coincidence though with our taxi home: Daniel, one of the SMURD ambulance driver's we got to know was also the taxi driver who arrived to pick us up tonight and he also happened to be wearing his Aussie jumper today!

Hannah, Attila, Tori, Me: saying bye! :(

Bye SMURD!!