Working in the ER, it’s 2 am and the ambulance is pulling in. The father and son watch as they sit in the dimmed light of the waiting room.
The evening rush has not settled down. There are young children with sore stomachs, people with headaches, cut fingers, anxiety, there’s elderly and frail.
People are coming in ambulances, and they’re all lined up to be admitted, and seen by the lone doctor.
I take names, and contact information, give everyone their wrist bands and ask them all to wait patiently in the waiting room. For the most part people are patient. Some are not. There are people who get really annoyed and some eventually leave. Some just get angry, some are upset. The emergency department is often a stressful place to be, but there is something really special about the people who work there and the way they handle this stress, and give reassurance to those with anxiety.
Everyone does their best to make it a positive place, and its often quite amazing to see.
The boy and his father are brought in, after being seen by the doctor, they leave with a smile and a thank you.
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