Greater Milwaukee Today spent the night in an ER: Stat!.
It?s a Friday night, a time when people usually are at movies, out to dinner, or relaxing at home after a long workweek. But not for the staff at Froedtert Hospital?s Emergency Department arena. It?s 9 p.m., and many of them have worked past their regularly scheduled shift. They sustain themselves with caffeine, and there?s a half-dozen bottles of Diet Mountain Dew ringing the workspace. Other staff members walk through, taking a sip of cold coffee or warm soda before they go check on their assigned patients.
"We?ve been getting our butts kicked since 7 a.m. this morning," admits David Gay, R.N. "It?s the icy roads; we had a number of car accidents. There were more police officers here at 11 a.m. than nurses."
Nicely written, not over-dramatized account of an apparently slow night in an ED. This happens a lot in ED’s: a VIP will come to ‘see trauma’ and we’ll spend the night staring at the walls.
