Because we’re such a curious bunch, writers are always on the lookout for material to inspire, educate, fascinate. Cafes, restaurants, concerts, sporting events — any place where people congregate — is a great source for material.
But the best place? Go sit in a hospital emergency room for a while, because these places are teeming with humanity. An ER is a window to the world of how people respond, cope, survive (or not), how they give and take, how they communicate and, well, everything in between.
Recently I made the trip to the ER because I had an excruciatingly painful flare-up of a shoulder condition, and I wasn’t sure exactly what was causing it. The pain was making me nauseous and spiking my blood pressure, so off my partner and I went for the long wait to see a doctor.
Right away I knew it was going to be an interesting experience. A helicopter was on the landing pad, waiting to fly a patient to London. Word around the waiting room was that there’d been a bad car crash, in which two people had been gravely injured. As the chopper lifted off with one patient, an ER doctor and nurse jumped into a land ambulance with the other patient for the trip south. All of this meant the ER was going to become even more jammed up, because it was now down a doc and a nurse.
The ER waiting area at my local hospital is pretty tight, and there’s really no way to avoid hearing everyone’s business as they talk to the triage nurse. There was the teenaged girl who came in because she wasn’t feeling “safe”. There was the rough looking guy who was having problems from a previous pellet gun injury in his arm (and who was all too happy to chat about it). Then an ambulance brought in an elderly woman who’d gone VSA (vital signs absent) but was revived. The chaos meant it was a six-hour wait for someone like me with a non-urgent shoulder issue.
Just as I finally got back to a treatment room, a patient in the waiting area suddenly went VSA. The Code Blue was an all-hands-on-deck call that brought more doctors and nurses from all over the hospital rushing to the patient. It truly was like an episode from a television medical show. I got to seem them flying down the hall with the stretcher containing not only with the patient but piled up with life-saving equipment too.
Oh, and before I forget, while all this drama was unfolding, an old guy walked in and wanted his ear wax removed. He was crusty and uncooperative when he was basically told (in a nice way) that it wasn’t the time or place for such a minor complaint.
I truly didn’t mind the long wait spent in the ER once I realized what a treasure trove of humanity I was observing.
Writers, don’t begrudge “time wasted” waiting around for something. At least not when there’s cool things happening around you!
