Starting at 07:30 today was a little more interesting in the ED, we started the day with several trauma patients, most from motorcycle and car accidents. The doctor talked me through how to examine X-rays of the spine using the acronym ABCS (Alignment, Bones, Cartilage and Soft tissue) shortly following this we received a biker who had a Tibia and Fibula open fracture (xray shown above) which is a little more obvious on the x ray.
Having a mass of trauma patients gave me the perfect opportunity to practice gaining IV access (cannulating) in order to give pain relief and fluids. To my surprise I have found out that Entonox is not available locally and NSAIDs and Morphine are often the primary source of pain relief.
As the day went on, more and more patients presented, often requiring suturing I took the opportunity to learn to suture myself. After watching a few times and being observed once, I was given the ok to suture without supervision. Using Lidocaine as a local analgesic and the suturing packs provided, I closed several large wounds to the arms and one to head.
In the Evening I met with Arielle, She took me for a coffee in one of the local cafes and to learn some Spanish, She then took me for a walk around the local area explaining some of the history of the buildings and the city. Back at Gloria's we discussed what to expect over the next few weeks before parting ways until tomorrow morning when my Spanish lessons continue.
On another note, I have been using the app Duolingo in order to learn some basics of Spanish. From my experience so far the app is great at teaching you to read in the language, ok for learning how to understand, but not so good at teaching you your pronunciation.
(Above: My first attempt at suturing the scalp)
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