PreMed13

Even as just an observing student sometimes I abhor the people we see in the emergency room I shadow in. They can be violent, entitled, disrespectful, and amoral. I can't tell you how many times I've had an incredibly inappropriate comment directed at me for just being a female, and don't even get me started on the wandering hands...But when I start to feel anger turn into genuine hate, I step back. I leave for a few minutes, get some coffee, remind myself that they are drunk/high/suicidal/in pain/etc. and remind myself that ultimately they don't come home with me in the evening, literally or figuratively.

I think that your example might be a tad extreme in just the dealing with caliber and type. I hardly think that a Desert Eagle is appropriate for the scenario that seems to have been posed. In my reading the post, it seemed to me that the idea was that they would carry a small, easily concealed gun that, though weaker perhaps in stopping power, would give them some line of last defense. I don't think it should be perhaps the first step in the medical community defending itself. Why not start with mace and see if carrying it and using it lowers the rate of injury or the chances that gunshots might break out from a security team's response? At the same time, we live in a rather dangerous world. I admit that the person in question carrying the firearm in question is just as likely to be the one that ends your life as they are to be the one that ultimately saves it. At the same time, I can't say I'm not to some degree, and a part of that I know is irrational, comforted by the idea that someone on the floor might be able to respond just a little faster than security if something, God forbid, did happen.

I shadow as an observer in a Level One Trauma Center, and I have to say that for all of the violent and crime-based cases we get, we've never had an incident where a member of the staff was threatened with a weapon. We have wonderful security personnel who do a fantastic job. At the same time, I don't think it's unacceptable for a trained, licensed professional to carry a weapon; with the caveat, of course, that they are also trained in weapon retention.

I don't think there's anything strange about it at all! I'm just a volunteer in a hospital right now and I have to say the male nurses were always far more willing to help me with the tasks I couldn't do by myself than the female ones. They're also just generally more laid back and easier to get help from. I wouldn't let a silly gender stereotype stop you from following your dreams!

I'm only a pre-medical student myself, but my mentor has seen someone with eight chest tubes recover with no lasting side effects.