A long night
by fiona
The churchbells were ringing in Minneapolis as I made my way home. Riding my bike home in the warm sunlight, trees swaying in the breeze, a cacaphony of sombre bells echoing across the lake as a solemn reminder.
The city is recovering from this enormous disaster, the aftermath of a major thoroughfare being practically swallowed by the Mississippi in one sudden gulp. I am recovering too, in a way.
Man, am I tired.
I just got home after a long night at the hospital. 17 hours? Something like that. I was called in to provide emergency assistance a few hours before my overnight shift, and then stayed this morning for conference and lecture and the obligatory departmental debriefing.
I wish I could say that I was saving lives all night long, but after my first two patients who literally had the bridge collapse from under their feet, I spent most of the remainder of the night treating drunk people who had gotten into fights. A bit anticlimactic.
All I can say is that i feel very proud to be affiliated with Hennepin County Medical Center, the hospital that took the brunt of the disaster casualties. My hospital. And I feel even more proud to be part of a field whose mission is to prepare for and treat the victims of such awful situations. It felt good to be able to help out during something so momentous.
My heart goes out to the victims and their families.
And now, sleep.
Posted on August 2, 2007 | Comments (11)
Level 3 Incident
by fiona
The 35W bridge over the Mississippi river in downtown Minneapolis just collapsed. It just broke and fell into the river, bringing all of the rush hour traffic down with it.
When my brother called me to let me know - a "heads up" on my shift tonight - I thought he was kidding. But then I saw the images on tv - mammoth slabs of highway asphault lying across the river, slanted up onto the land with shapes resembling cars, semis, a school bus scattered over their surfaces. The semi was on fire. There were cars in the river. From a helicopter-scale distance it was an eerily calm image, without much movement except for the clamor of the newscasters.
and then I got the following pages:
"get to HCMC NOW"
and
" Level 3 Incident - report to ED"
I threw on some scrubs, jumped on my bike and came in, running into the ED in a sweat.
My first patient was on the top of the bridge, running from his car, and rode the bridge down as it collapsed.
We will see how the evening unfolds.
Posted on August 1, 2007 | Comments (10)