Dr. Anna Clark • High Pressure Night Shift

(Junior Doctor, Southampton General Hospital || UK)

“My shift started at 8 PM and it was one of those nights were I hadn’t sat down, drunk anything or even had time to go to the toilet. At 4.30 AM I got a call to come to another ward. I was the only doctor covering all the wards, with 200 patients, as the more senior doctors were all in surgery. The call said ‘systolic blood pressure 60, chest pain’ — if you have a systolic blood pressure of 60 you probably don’t have a radial pulse and could not be getting enough blood to your brain. I ran to the ward, and found a completely pale woman who was perched on the edge of her bed, really short of breath and clutching her chest. I thought she was going to die right there in front of me. I was able to examine her, stabilize her and work out what was going on before other help arrived. By the next morning her blood pressure was fine, and she was much better by the end of my shift. I was quite pleased that I was able to respond appropriately and be the help that was needed in a potentially dire situation.

•

Working as a doctor has definitely changed my perspective on life. It’s showed me that you never know what’s round the corner. You have to plan for the future, but you also have to live for the moment.”