Artificial Trauma Analysis

The Inspiration of Artificial Trauma I opened my eyes to the brightest of lights. The room was cold and silent, white and sterile. There was a stranger standing over me, asking if I was okay and visually assessing me. There were red and purple marks all over my skin, something was dripping down my face, and my fingers were completely blue. I acted shocked at the condition I appeared to be in, but I was not surprised at all. In fact, I could not even feel my injuries, but only because they were fake. What I was participating in is known as Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS), a program for surgeons-in-training at Penn State Hershey Medical Center. I was a patient model, given a situation, specific directions on how to behave, and of course, …show more content…
I participated in ATLS twice, both times a severe car accident victim, one confused and pregnant, one angry and intoxicated. I intentionally made the trainees’ job significantly difficult, which made it tough see their looks of frustration in dealing with such a troublesome patient. I was secretly hoping they would all pass, which made it slightly heart-breaking when some did not, and learned that they had to retake the entire course because I was too difficult for them. Leaving personal feelings aside, the atmosphere of the hospital itself made the situation serious. I obtained instructions from actual surgeons and residents, and the course of someone’s medical career was at stake. The hospital itself is a highly professional environment, and everyone has a very specific job to perform. The people involved in ATLS were all helpful and amiable, but I could not help but feel the pressure to do everything perfectly. The medical field has no room for nonsense, and I felt enveloped in that …show more content…
However, this experience is more distinct than others. As someone that has never been a hospital patient, I had never witnessed firsthand what goes on in a hospital after a trauma. Lying on the makeshift hospital bed when I was not yelling or having a fake panic attack, I listened to the trainees thinking aloud, trying to decipher what they were saying about me. The other patient models in the program admitted that they zoned out during the testing because it was too confusing anyway, but I found it fascinating. After multiple rounds, I was picking up the words that I kept hearing, such as systolic, tachycardia, and hematoma. I learned that a surgeon was to go through the ABC’s- airway, breathing, circulation, etc. I tried to assess myself during the tests to see if I could get anything correct. I found the whole process captivating, and I realized that while I was not certain about a medical career initially, I definitely needed to pursue one in the