Tales from the ER

At work last night we got a full arrest (for the non medical personnel out there, that means someone who is not breathing and without pulses). So anyway there we were waiting for the medics to come in with the patient and I noticed something. We were all standing around the bed talking, not about the patient or what was coming, but laughing and joking. Telling inappropriate stories, insulting each other, just being obnoxious in general. And I realized that this is not unusual. Every full arrest I've ever been a part of has been like this. And in the NICU when we would go for a critical delivery it would be the same thing. The doctor, the respiratory therapist and the nurse would be standing around the warmer waiting for the baby to come out, and just making the most inappropriate jokes, quietly, of course, so the family and patient wouldn't hear, but not very nice in any way. I don't know what this phenomenon is. Call it gallows humor I guess. I suppose its our way of taking the tension out of the situation. Maybe subconsciously we know that in a few minutes we will literally be trying to pry someone away from death's door and its how we relax. It's also weird that after the arrest is called and the patient pronounced, we all just go on like nothing has changed, most of the time. There are the unusual cases that really affect us...kids, young people, mostly. Those stick around for awhile. But in most cases we just go back to business as usual. I guess maybe its a way of coping.