Estoy llevando dos localizadores.

I have often run into the general assumption that the use of pagers, or beepers, is antiquated, out-of-date and no longer used. Unfortunately they are still very much used in the hospital setting. We, general surgery residents, at WMC each carries his/her own beeper. There are then trauma beepers for those designated as trauma responders for the shift. And then there is one more.

There is the 0298.

Designated as the consult/critical value pager, it ends up being the catch-all of surgery pager. The 0298 is it's own rotation. A single resident is assigned this pager for the month rotation. And that's all they do, carry the 0298. No OR time for the duration of the rotation, as you have to be able to respond to pages as immediately as possible. I held the 0298 for the 1st time October 1. The consult resident for the month was post-call that day, so couldn't stay and therefore on my first day back on Vascular I was also honorary consult resident. I got a couple of comments about how I was "growing up" carrying it for my first time. As if its some sort of right-of-passage for a junior resident. In a way, it does carry a huge responsibility. Whoever carries the 0298 is in constant contact with the rest of the hospital. While everyone else is in the OR, he/she is out and talking with other services, answering questions, and putting out fires (not in a literal sense). It also carries with it the general understanding that whichever resident is carrying it will be able to discern between emergent and non-emergent and respond appropriately.

It is the month during which a resident carries the 0298 that is notorious for turning a gentle, kind and smiling soul into something close to resembling The Hulk! I won't go into details as to how and why, but it has a lot to do with 1) politics and 2) the general culture existing among all levels of staff/faculty at WMC that says 'well...that's not my job!'

I survived the day with only some difficulty, most of which was from the fact that I was trying to be both a vascular resident as well as the consult resident. Finished my last note before the clock struck 9pm and clicked save with a happy yessssssssssss (which rhymes with successsssssssssss) making the med student studying next to me laugh.

Much Love.