The patient we did not see
Staff on duty in the Emergency Department had just learned a child had been severely burned in a neighboring community. Unlike most patients who would be coming first to us, this patient was identified as a candidate for transport directly to a Boston burn center.
Because the family expected the patient to come to Eastern Maine Medical Center , the frantic parents arrived at our Emergency Department to await the arrival of their son.
Their apprehension deepened when they learned that their son was not coming to Eastern Maine Medical Center , and now they had to face the intimidating process of coping with this physical and emotional trauma in the city of Boston .
As Dr. Norm Dinerman, chief of Emergency Medicine Service, the ED physician on duty, updated and worked to calm the parents, Emergency Department nurse, Tom Read, instantly went into action to relieve their anxiety and needs in a very practical way. Without fanfare, Tom collected lodging information, maps and hospital information from the Internet. He then presented the “urban survival kit” directly to the child’s parents.
While no member of the EMMC emergency staff actually saw this small patient, Tom cared for the family by taking away some of the worry about the logistics of the unanticipated need to travel, and gave them the freedom to concentrate on their injured son.
“A company must hire nice people because you can’t teach nice” – John Fitzgerald Kennedy
The Moral of the Story:
- You don’t have to be the star to be the hero.
- Sometimes “Patient First” doesn’t require the patient.
- Creativity and imagination can be used in the service of caring.
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