I worked my first real shift last night in the ED. It wasn't too busy, no trauma. The highlights were draining a large abcess and a soldier who (seriously) wanted me to write him a profile stating he should not eat gravy. He had apparently gotten into a heated discussion with the contractors who serve our morning chow and had been escorted out of the area by MPs. For some reason the contractors have adopted a no gravy, no food policy. He's not allergic and has no dietary restrictions, he just doesn't like it. I told him to go for the cold cereal option on mornings that they serve gravy. He insisted that that wouldn't work because he eats "five to six times" what a normal person eats and he could never get full that way. I didn't write a profile for him but I did tell him I'd raise the issue with command, and would he mind talking to our psychiatrist for a bit. He thought that would be swell as there are several other things that have been bugging him. You think?
The only opportunity I've had to get a glimpse of the damage downtown is on our afternoon runs through the area. We took picture after picture, but they all started to look the same. It's difficult to appreciate without experiencing the smell.
Apparently I was standing too close to this wrecked store front because just as we took this picture an alarm started going off. We casually resumed our run, not starting off again too quickly lest we be mistaken for thwarted looters.
