Best feeling so far

I just made it through a code simulation alive! It was packed with a good dose of adrenaline that triggered the sympathetic in my system that wasn’t much used for a long time.

The code simulation was much like what you get to see in the series of Grey’s Anatomy where a patient goes cardiac arrest, the cardiac monitor beeps furiously and the code team rushes in and tries to revive the patient to normal.

The feeling was amazing! Even if it was just a simulation, there was time pressure and I needed to familiarize myself with algorithms and ECG tracings and the medicine needed based on what heart rhythm the patient is giving. It was a huge challenge on my part since it was my first time and I’ve never actually seen such situation face to face. Now I am looking at it, and it brought chills in me, actually scared me a little, but yet it was some kind of opportunity to learn and do something new.

My bloopers, though awkward in many levels, keep repeating in my head and I vowed to never do them again. It was hilarious that during my turn as the one to give ventilation, I couldn’t figure out what to do with the things brought out in front of me. The bag-valve-mask was some sort of alien gadget that I attached the parts wrong with my hands shaking. Looking back at it makes me laugh because I must have looked really stupid but I did it anyway. (haha)

So going through, when it was then my turn as a Team Leader, I thought it was the best part. I actually want to do it again. The team leader was the one who analyzes the cardiac monitor whether the patient is having supraventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation, or maybe going through an asystole. These are big words and I love to say them. After correctly stating what kind of heart rhythm the patient is having, I quickly make a decision to assess if the patient has a pulse (the dummy patient actually makes a pulse!) and note if it is stable. Then I go through telling my team if the patient needs to be defibrillated or given a dose of Epinephrine or Adenosine or Atropine. (I’m starting to love the medicines too.) I even get to try intubating the pretend-patient, which I haven’t ever done before (thus the shaking hands).

When the whole thing was done, I couldn’t stop smiling. One because I passed the simulation in one try. Second, because all my team members also passed. All our efforts of practice actually paid off. And by the end of the day, the same team actually won as 3rd best ACLS team!

Until now, I feel really glad! I want to feel again the same thing I felt in the simulation room. And maybe I will if I get myself stationed in the Emergency Room or in the ICU. Maybe I’ll even get to save a life and not just AmbuMan(my first pretend-patient). But for now, I’m just going to wait and see what will come.