It was a scene straight out of the ER TV show.... only well... not.

[minerva8121]

Nothing quite takes your breath away when you see Dr. Dyce come flying into the treatment area with an obtunded St. Bernard on a gurney, then for the next 15 minutes watch as some of the clinic's best veterinarians--- Dyce, Surman, Ragani, Flores, Goodnight, Cooper--- along with several skilled technicians, try their damnedest to bring this dog back to life. Needles, epi, atropine, catheters, crash carts, CPR, e-tubes, EKG leads. Everything happening at once and everybody working chaotically. One person pumping the dog's chest, another desperately searching for a viable catheter vein in the back leg, one lubing up shock paddles and the other attaching leads. People (mostly unskilled and awed vet students) standing and gawking and hoping. V-fib, *clear!*, shock. Epi intracardiac. The smell of burning skin and hair. 15 full minutes they tried, until it was clear the dog wasn't coming back (also, I think someone said the owner didn't want excessive life-saving measures-- ie: crack the chest, which i think they were prepared to do).

I had goosebumps the whole time I watched this go on. I don't think I felt as in awe-- or as useless and... novice-y?-- as I did then, haha.

I think I'm gonna enjoy my ER rotation next spring......