Category Archives: Intensive Care Unit

“Are You Alright?” On Pandemic Death, Isolation, Connection, and Walter Benjamin’s “The Storyteller”

Mary N. LayounA. Joseph Layon Gentle Reader – A short time ago my friend, colleague, comrade and sister – and I – were asked to submit a piece to “Survive & Thrive: A Journal for Medical Humanities and Narrative as … Continue reading

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Working in the Virus’ Shadow: SARS-CoV-2, 7 July, 2020, 1400 Hrs

I am sweating. It has been a while since I last posted on this topic. Not because I have been ignoring SARS-CoV-2, rather because being in the hospital – in the ICU – caring for COVID19 and other patients, has … Continue reading

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Working in the Virus’ Shadow: SARS-CoV-2 4 April, 2020, 1600 Hrs

One can gain a brief view of the specter sweeping our country – indeed the world – by walking the halls of our medical centers. There is concern and fear everywhere. Firstly, one sees health care workers – nurses, physicians, … Continue reading

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Working in the Virus’ Shadow: SARS-CoV-2 28 March, 2020, 1132 Hrs

This gallery contains 2 photos.

This should have been the first post on this topic, under this heading, that I made. With so many high quality sites available, why put together another to attempt to explain the Pandemic that is upon us? I think for … Continue reading

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Working in the Virus’ Shadow: SARS-CoV-2 26 March, 2020, 0204 Hrs

We all know something is happening. Something that we’ve not seen before. Of course we see it in the news reports, the closings, the empty streets. We are not used to this. We see it in the gallows humor: If … Continue reading

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Quora Query: Have You Ever Witnessed Hospital Administration Turn Away a Patient that Should have Been Seen Right Away?

In the United States, complements of a law passed in 1986 – The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) – a hospital cannot turn away someone who has an emergency. Rather, the institution must treat it – at least … Continue reading

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Quora Query: What do People Think About the Law in Texas and 31 Other US States that Forces a Pregnant, Brain-Dead Woman, with No Hope of Recovery, to Have Her Functions Supported Against the Written Wishes of the Person Whose Body it is?

[From 2014, slightly modified] NOTE: This answer is long [TL:DR warning] This is an important issue, reminding me of the Terry Schiavo case of some years ago in Florida, on which I also opined along with my colleague Roger Blackburn. … Continue reading

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Quora Query: What Would a Typical Day be in My Life as an Anesthesiologist?

[From 2013, slightly updated] A couple of things first. Medicine is the coolest job on the face of the earth, and every specialty has its own “coolness”. One of the questions you should ask is: “Do I want to be … Continue reading

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Quora Query: Why Do Many Americans Think That Healthcare is not a Right for its Own Taxpaying Citizens, and Should it not be Considered as, or More, Important by the American Public Than is Education?

[Originally from 2012, slightly updated] I think first of all one need ask if the premise is correct: DO MOST Americans think that health care is not a right? And then I would ask: From where did you come up … Continue reading

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Quora Query: What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Warm Whole Blood vs. Component Blood Products in Treating Trauma Patients?

[Updated slightly from 2012] The essentials are as follows (and this is the SHORT answer !): Components come from whole blood that is split into, well, components…..so whole blood becomes Packed Red Blood Cells, Fresh Frozen Plasma, and Fibrinogen; this … Continue reading

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