THE DOORS

[kc87t]

Emergency rooms have no windows. They have doors. The pneumatic type, that opens unexpectedly with a hiss. Inside the doors is a family of specially trained people who work, prepare, and wait. They wait to see what the doors will bring. Pain, fear, anguish, irritation, and embarrassment are some of the visitors. They come at any time, with any intensity, in any number. There is no order to their arrival. Those entering all have one thing in common -- they need help from the people inside... The doors take people out. Sometimes the people are relieved and comforted. sometimes they are angry. Sometimes they leave with unknowable grief. Sometimes they leave dead... Survival in this place requires a deep kindness nestled in a very dark sense of humor, and a strong faith tempered with cynicism. The people who work in this place refer to it as "the pit"...

Mark Brown, MD

Malibu, CA

True Stories From the Nation's ERs

[psu_213, BSN, RN]

OP,

I read the title of your thread "THE DOORS."

Now I can't get "Riders on the Storm" out of my head....

I don't want to diminish the power of the OP, but...."Light my Fire" is what came to mind for me

[whichone'spink, BSN, RN]

For a patient who has been waiting in the waiting room for a long time: "Break on through to the other side".