“LIFE IN RESUS”

“Brian,” the Nurse in Red says, shaking him, before turning and lazily calling, “Cardiac arrest, get the trolley,” - a few heads turn and bodies amble over with faces drawn as the Red Nurse places her hands on his chest and pushes, ribs cracking under her, the chest moving up and down, up and down - then a Blue Scrubbed Nurse places pads on his chest as the Registrar, with arms folded, announces from his vantage point at the foot of the bed, Someone on airways please, tell me what we know about him, and the Red Nurse answers in compressed breaths, “Fifty-five-year-old-man-with-chest-pain-and-short-ness-of-breath,” to which the Registrar replies dryly, Thank you, but remember it’s Ah - Ah - Ah - Ah - Staying alive - Staying alive, and the Red Nurse slows to the Beegees beat, the Registrar turning his attention to a dumbstruck Medical Student who is trying to ram a plastic tube down the man's throat, and calls over, You’re inserting that gaudel upside down, causing the blood to rush to the Medical Students face, and - with a hurried apology - the plastic tube is turned and inserted, the Medical Student backing away and standing mute beside an identically dumbstruck Nursing Student, both careful to avoid the gaze of the Registrar, who has moved his attention to the peacocking Houseman, in full plume after getting a line into the man’s arm and is now flirting before the Blue Scrubbed Nurse, blood bottles in hand, “Oh, what I can do with these hands,” he lauds and everyone ignores him, turning their attention to the Consultant who has sauntered through the swinging doors announcing, “Catch me up,” and the Registrar, still - standing with his arms crossed - replies to him, Fifty year old male, “He - is - fifty - five,” the Red Nurse pants, her face now the colour of her scrubs, and the Registrar corrects himself, Fifty five year old male, presented with chest pain and shortness of breath, no known past medical history, arrested in Resus, two rounds of compression done and airway secured eventually with a gaudel, these words pushing the Medical Student further into hiding whilst the Consultant nods and turns and walks back through the door, announcing “Grand, you don’t need me then,” these words falling deafly on the ears of the Houseman who uninvitedly strokes the Blue Nurse’s arm, not seeing the eye roll and gag she communicates to the Nursing Student, causing an unexpected giggle which is buried beneath the Registrar’s boom, Stand clear for shock; clear top - middle - bottom - ok; shock delivered, and the man’s body jolts to life momentarily before the boom announces, Back on the chest, continue compressions, and the Red Faced Nurse pushes on the chest again - and the chest goes up and down, up and down - and a quietness falls on all of them;the Houseman eyeing up the Blue Scrubbed Nurse from behind, his lip being chewed - and time crawles by until, after an eternity, the Registrar says, Hold compressions to assess cardiac output, do we have a pulse, and the Red Faced Nurse nods, showering sweat down on the man’s chest, allowing the Registrar to continue, Ok, so we have cardiac output and a secured airway, we’re done, turf him upstairs, and the Registrar, and the Houseman, and the Blue Scrubbed Nurse, and the Students scurry away, leaving the man with the glowing Red Nurse who smiles as she wheels my husband off to ICU.