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During my time in Health Care I have met a number of very well known people. Well, they were well known in the parts. I have met Newspaper people, radio people. I have met former NFL players. There have been Politicians. Everybody runs into health issues at some point. I would love to tell some stories about a few of these people but of course that is the ‘Forbidden Zone.’

Still, when people are laying in those beds, they are not concerned with their careers behind them but rather if they can be helped to take breaths in relative comfort. Generally speaking, pain relief is almost always possible. I have never seen a Patient remain in agony for an extended period of time.

There was one particular time when I walked into a room, the Nurse with whom I was friendly was already in there. I was only there to provide a regularly scheduled Bronchodilator and was about to do so. I looked at the woman with whom I had spoken with earlier that day. She seemed static, comfortable, that is stable.

I only had glanced at her for a moment as I was documenting on the computer just what I was doing. I had eye contact with her. She was very sweet but weak. She was indeed sick but she did not require ventilation intervention. She was breathing just fine, spontaneously. Suddenly she took a deep breath and she gasped. She gave up the Ghost exactly as I was looking at her. That was strange. It was clear that the Nurse happened to be looking at her at the very same time.

We both saw her pass. It was a very peaceful thing, but it was strange. Most of the deaths that I witnessed were as a result of ‘Codes’ in the Trauma Rooms. Most of the expired Patients were victims of violence or accidents. Being tossed off a three story roof was usually considered as an ‘accident.’ Before the Covid stuff started, we had a ton of those type of accidents. Cheaper than a bullet I suppose. Go up to the roof, smoke a bone and then get invited to go sailing to the sidewalk. Horrible stuff, but it was for a time happening a lot.

This poor lady had come to the hospital for reasons that I cannot recall now. It was 10 years ago at least. She was cognizant of her surroundings and in virtually every aspect she seemed to be on the road to recovery. Instead, she took her last breath while looking at me. It was a bit unsettling yet after some amount of time in, my work, Death is no stranger.

I have certainly seen plenty of persons shed this world over the years. Some of the cases are quite remarkable. A few years ago, just before Christmas, I took a ventilated young man down for a brain scan. I had to remain with the Patient. The scan took perhaps an hour. So I just stayed in the room with the Technician. Upon completion, I returned to the ICU and put him back on the regular ventilator.

Shortly after, minutes, I walked by a conference room and the door was closed. Suddenly I heard screaming. It was intense stuff. I had no idea what that was about. I moved on in order to document my recent activities.

I went to the chart, and I saw that the young Patient had been declared dead. I saw the Time Of Death. OMG, I was in the freaking elevator with that Patient when they declared him dead. I felt violated. I was quite pissed but I cannot explain my emotions. I just know that there was something very improper about that.

The Patient was younger than my own children. They told the family in that conference room even as I was still wrapping up in the room with the now legally declared dead man. No wonder there was screaming as this was a completely unanticipated development.

Hospital work is certainly not for the squeamish. We see a lot more than people realize. We have to know things, we are expected to know things. I really thought that I would have trouble working in Trauma, but that was never the case. I just looked at it as rationally as I was able. I have seen so much blood and bones over the last decade or so than ever before in my entire life altogether.

Some of those young Nurses are simply amazing people. They know everything. To me there does seem to be a lot of enthusiasm by the young Residents for the very exciting cases that those EMTs wheel in with a seemingly odd regularity.

In the Trauma Rooms there are always at least 2 Residents, an Attending. There are Nurses to administer, Nurses to record, Nurses to be ‘a runner,’ a Respiratory Therapist, a Pharmacist, a Social Worker type, often a Cop or Security. Those rooms do get crowded. My position was always at the head of the bed.

Up on the floors, we just go into to the rooms and the Nurses will often have multiple Patients so they may seem to not be around. In the ICUs, the Nurses sometimes have just 1 Patient, though sometimes it could be 2, mostly just the 1.

In my function, we travel every where in the hospital, and therefore we are usually very well known by everybody. Patients do not realize that. I usually can tell quickly who the good Nurses are. We see it all. We often dispense advice to the younger Nurses. Sometimes they are not sure about what to do in an emergency. I usually told them ‘When in doubt, call for help.’ It really sucks to be 5 floors away on the other side of the hospital and your critically ill Patient is going south.

More later, if there is interest.