I work in a busy emergency dept. in NYC. The atmosphere can get pretty intense, my colleagues and I try to use humor to lighten things up. One way we do this is by giving patients pet names. "Scratchy" a regular homeless patient, was one of the people for which this was true, until recently that is...
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It was 3 AM on the first day of Summer in New York City, I was taking the subway home after working a grueling 12 hours in the emergency department. You must be wondering about the kind of people I run into on the train at that hour. Up until recently, it wasn't anyone I would consider particularly special. But that changed after I was nearly robbed for my phone and who else but "Scratchy" a familiar (homeless) patient, came to my rescue.
I was playing Sudoku on my phone as I typically do during the commute. Scratchy was sitting on the opposite end of the empty train car carrying a tattered plastic bag and as usual, scratching his head. His name isnt really Scratchy of course, but thats the name we gave him in the ED after he became a regular admittee. Every time I saw him on the train I wondered if he recognized me from work, but figured he didn't.
I was mid-game when suddenly a young man wriggled in as the train doors were shutting close. It was a Saturday so I figured he was coming from a club or something but in retrospect it was odd he chose to stand up with so many available seats. He turned his back looking at his reflection in the dark window. I only had a few more stops to go so I refocused on my game.
At the next stop and at the brink of Sudoku victory, I felt my phone violently snatched from my hands, the young man had lunged at me and was trying to run off. I yelled "stop!" but couldn't move. He was darting for the exit when suddenly he dropped like a ton of bricks. His head was nearly pinched between the closing doors but all I could do was watch, I was physically frozen.
"He's having a seizure put him on his side!"
yelled Scratchy but I couldn't get up, my legs felt like wet noodles, my head was spinning. Finally Scratchy came rushing to the young man and carefully positioned him on his side,
"Ain't you a nurse, why don't you help him?!" scolded Scratchy.
I'm not sure if it was realizing that Scratchy could talk (he never said a coherent word before) or if him knowing medical procedure for seizures snapped me out of shock, but at some point I woke up and went into RN mode.
I quickly placed my nursing bag at the base of the subway pole to protect the young man from bashing his head,
"YES I am a Nurse...I was scared, he tried to rob me didnt you see!" I retorted glaring at Scratchy.
"Anyway, how'd you know he was having a seizure?"
He ignored me, eyes planted on the young man who was coming to a calm. During all this time the train was slowly elevating from underground. The whole ordeal probably lasted a couple of minutes but felt like a lifetime. As the train screeched upward I could see the silver moon glowing over the brick buildings, "only in New York" I muttered. Suddenly my phone rang with my husbands ringtone. I got on the floor searching but couldn't find it. I stood up frustrated to find Scratchy with his hand out, my phone in his palm.
"By the way, my name is Jerome not Scratchy" he said "Your phone was under the boy".
I felt my face flush as a wave of shame came over me. He did recognize me from the ED and he knew we called him Scratchy. I took my phone and explained everything to my husband who somehow was able to meet us on the platform with the authorities in just minutes. I assessed and then warned the young man before the police took him away. I also apologized to Jerome and thanked him for everything. We offered to get him food but he refused. We waited with him for the next train, when one finally arrived he got on, turned back to us and said
"That boy, his name's Mark. He got epilepsy, like me. Met him once in the hospital you work at".
The doors closed and the train pulled out of sight leaving my husband and I standing in humbled silence. On our way home I reflected on how callous my colleagues and I have become. The ED can be a really intense place. We try to have a sense of humor and although we don't mean any harm when we come up with these pet names, we must keep in mind that our patients are not pets. They are human beings in our care and they deserve respect.
I don't take the train home anymore, I also haven't seen Jerome since then. As long as he's safe I'll consider that a good thing and pretend that he's off doing superhero things in the subway like saving lives and cell phones. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't be surprised if that tattered plastic bag he carries is actually where he keeps his cape.
