twas the night before christmas.

who, i wondered, as i made my way to the hospital for a 7pm-7am shift, comes the the ED on christmas eve?

it wasn't long before i found out; not as many people come in as on a regular night, but there were more than i expected. they seemed to fall into 3 broad catagories: 1) the truly sick: truamas (eg, car accidents, of which there were 2 major ones and sadly, a 31 year old man died), major medical problems (eg, heart attack, of which there were also a few, and one 50ish man never went home); 2) those who just seem to want a place to spend the evening (eg, homeless folks, drunks, angry lenders, the unemployable...), about half of whom are benign and just want a sandwich and a few hours of sleep, the other half being angry and prone to screaming obscenities when not given exactly what they want, when they want it; 3) those whose motivation for visiting i was completely unable to determine (eg, a woman who had had pain in her right leg for 3 months and had never sought medical attention and decided that 315am on christmas morning was the time to finally do it.

not surprisingly, it was the folks from category 2 who provided the most...entertainment? intrigue? headache? a little bit of each.

i have quite a bit more to share about these gems, but i am due back at work in 29 minutes. there are drunks out there who need someone to bring them a sandwich, some ginger ale, and a urinal since they can't get up because they got strapped to the bed after cursing and spitting at the staff when asked not to walk around the ED with their pants off.

what does chirstmas day have in store for me? i'll find out in 27 minutes.