That's what I call teamwork....

Tuesday night/Wednesday morning I woke to the sound of the overhead alarm....”Attention all crew, would the emergency medical team please report to A ward immediately”. Disoriented I jumped out of bed and threw on a jacket and met many other people in the hallway, all walking very quickly in the same direction. This was the first EMT call of the outreach, and we all knew it must be serious business. Reaching the door to the ward it was obvious many people had it under control. Unsure of the exact situation, I headed back down the hall to begin prepping the ICU. A few minutes later, handing over supplies to a fellow nurse I found out that a post-op patient had begun bleeding which was occluding his airway and he needed help very quickly. I am in awe that literally within a minute of the call our amazing team was in the room and work had begun. The nurse had caught it at the perfect moment and the anesthetist and surgeon made quick decisions. The patient was rushed back to the OR within 10 minutes of the call. Less than 30 minutes later I was back in my bed adrenaline rushing through my system. I began praying for this patient, and his life which I knew was in very capable hands. Laying in my bed praying, I realized that there were probably anywhere from 5-400 people doing the same thing. Some nurses and doctors, but others teachers, chaplains, engineers, deck hands, and office staff. All united in that moment, praying for a person we didn’t know. Asking God for protection, that Dr. Shrime was able to repair the bleed, and ultimately asking for this patients life. Talking with key players after, it seems that everyone was in the perfect place at the perfect time. Even though we all awoke at 2:45am to the same shrill “ding-dong” people reacted quickly. I was able to care for this patient yesterday, less than 12 hours after his life was in jeopardy, and just about 5hours after he was able to be taken off the ventilator. He was doing amazing--stable and back to room air and today even made the journey up to deck 7 for some sunshine. Today, like so many others, I am so grateful to be where I am. To live and work on this beautiful hospital ship, in a community that is united--even in the middle of the night, joining together to save a life.