the gas man

Heard that phrase on an old episode of M*A*S*H referring to the
anesthetist; no one here ever seems to get it but I'm going to keep
using that bit of slang until they catch on. Maybe I'll stage a M*A*S*H
marathon to help it sink in. I've been brainstorming about ideas to
help improve and maintain staff morale over the past few weeks, and this
week saw the fruition of two of those plans: Staff Appreciation Week and
participating in the anesthesia call pool. For several years there's
just been two people doing all the anesthesia call in the hsopital, and
they were getting stretched pretty thin, so I volunteered to fall in the
schedule with them to help. So I had a crash course in spinal
anesthetic, reversal agents for paralyzing agents, and infant
resuscitation and started this week. It's been interesting, and a
learning opportunity, but it's probably the closest thing I can do
that's close to ER here, so I've enjoyed it, despite the little extra
lack of sleep it's given me. It's been all C-sections and one
amputation, but the sections have been a little scary since twice the
baby came out not breathing, so I had to try to revive the baby and take
care of the mom at the same time. For various reasons, our labor nurses
here are not trained in neonatal resuscitation, so you end up having to
do both things at the same time, which can be tricky, especially if both
are sick. Trying to make sure that training takes place is one of the
things that I want to make sure happens before I leave.