Have been wanting to update myself since ages ago.
Never seem to have the opportunity to do it.
Dr.L, the main pillar being it, had been 'harassing' me.
In the most civilized way.
I gave in finally.
It was for my own good.
More so, for the good of the patients under my care.
Not that I am the perfect clinician, unscarred by mistakes.
Yet, I do my best.
I am sure no one with the sane mind would declare themself error-free.
Yet, some chose to cast the first stone.
It is truly indefensible when a recent mortality was shrouded with mystery.
A mystery that its final stage, there was just lack of ACLS megacode resuscitation.
'Lack of facility' may be sent up the centrestage for ridicule and blame.
Yet, truth remains that humans should be responsible for the non-living objects.
In the course, Dr.L at a very particular moment, shared a harsh sentiment.
She was rejecting the instinctive explosives of scoldings during any resuscitation.
"You have to be calm and steady during resuscitation
Go over your megacode
Give clear instruction
Do not shout or scold if something went wrong,
Or someone gave you wrong instrument.
It falls back at you to put in a system to make sure everything being checked.
Everyone being trained.
You just waste time scolding.
And the relatives who hear you loud and clear won't be happy,too"
One can't really disagree with that logic.
As for the true lethal pathology that set to kill is largely unpredictable.
Nevertheless, the true survival rate in UK is 80% in 2010.
(Ref: GTG56 Maternal Collapse from www.rcog.org.uk.
Knight M, Tuffnell D, Brocklehurst P, Spark P, Kurinczuk JJ; UK
Obstetric Surveillance System. Obstet Gynecol 2010;115:910–7.)
Dr. L did remind everyone not to be overzealous and be more accepting.
If he or she is meant to die, they'll die, no matter how appropriate and timely your action is.
If he or she is meant to survive, they'll survive. But that doesn't mean you just let her/him die, ok?!?
The most important thing is that you being able to do the right thing and do your best.
Back to this ACLS course and exam.
Yup, again, I am in the guinea pig cohort.
This is the first time ACLS is shortening its 3-days course to 2 days.
Everything came hard and came fast. Like the chest compression.
The foreign ECG became familiar again.
And out of good luck or serendipity, I scored full in the ECG part.
Perhaps I underestimated my residual knowledge from my awesome undergrad Cardio Sifu, Dr Halmey.
Still in the ECG test, I had to chose 'sinus rhythm' after excluding all other ECG abnormalities.
Had an excellent tutor and partner in the Airway station.
Learning was a breeze.
Prep before advanced airway - intubation.
codename: MALES (right to left)
The distractor at the Airway station. It's called Laryngeal Tube. It resembles.. err... never mind.
MegaCode Exam with my colleagues, Dr.C and Dr. H. Sporting the 'LGE smile'.
The examiner was the awesome biker Dr.L.
Passing the short course was not my primary aim.
But still I'm glad I did it together with most of the participants.
This cohort set the record for having a high passing rate.
For those who didn't make it, it's TCA 2 months - May
Confirmed joining are at least 2 Consultants and a specialist my dearest Dept.
And it's "Staying Alive" all over again...
Franchised slides for the whole crash course is attached below.
P.S. Dear A, no, I'm so not going to share the lame 'rigor mortis' joke.
