can't let that angel win again {meghan}

Doctor Eugene Butters

The day had dragged along like a turtle in a footrace against the jackrabbit. It was slow, but it was surely ticking away. Dr. Eugene Butters had visited with an old man with a cough, a young woman with a broken foot, and three different chemical burns. The burns he patched up quickly and sent along to his father's unit for closer inspection.

Surely, the doctor was quite capable of treating such injuries, but if they weren't life-threatening it was not his long-term responsibility. They reserved him for emergencies, mostly, which usually trickled in throughout the day but had not flared up just yet. Eugene was practically bored as he performed one last inspection of the elderly man in the first room.

"Unhook him from the oxygen machine and get him ready for discharge. He should take a dose of the cough syrup before bed everyday until the symptoms clear." Eugene didn't offer any further explanation. He smiled at the man, and walked purposefully from the room. A medic was already on their way.

"You okay, Doctor?" A nurse spoke to him with a curious expression. Gene gave her a slight nod of his head and bent down to finish the old man's chart.

"I'm fine, just waiting for this day to pick up." The words were hardly out of his mouth when the doors barreled open and the priority red alarms began to blare. Finally, something worth his while. This is what he lived for, the reason why he took this job. His pen dropped with a small clatter as he grabbed a pair of gloves and sprinted to room two.

"What do we got, Medic?" Gene couldn't remember the medic's name if he tried. He was too distracted by the child sprawled out on the table before him.

Words: 297

ooc: blitzing with permission from ems!

Doctor Eugene Butters

Gene appreciated someone with initiative. It's what got him through his medical training, and it's what was going to get him through the final stages of his surgeon training. He performed operations on the emergency room floor, of course, but he wanted something a little less high-pressure. Patients died on them all the time. People who had pissed off Peacekeepers and had taken the worst whippings. Malnourished children who couldn't get enough nutrients if his medical team fed them an entire Capitol feast. The elderly who didn't have any fight left in them. Eugene had seen it all. He was never the one to comfort the families, though he did often have to break the bad news.

There wasn't enough emotion left in him to offer comfort to anyone but his own father and siblings. He had seen too many people die through his training. Death was a weekly, if not daily experience for him.

Still, he appreciated the medic's careful hand and swift action with the dying child. The doctor appreciated excitement, but he never liked when the young ones passed away on his watch. Some parents were naturally forgiving, understanding when too far gone was truly too far gone. But other people hated him for his failure to save the lives of those who were practically dead when they were wheeled in. Eugene could do nothing to appease them. He simply came to work everyday and did his job.

The doctor paused and assessed the patient, noting each observation made by his medic. Something inside him shifted, ready to go into the business of saving this child's life.

"You," he pointed at a nurse who had just walked in to assist, "He needs immediate intubation and then should be attached to a cardiac monitor. He's at risk for arrest if we do not act quickly." Eugene leaned over and began to further exam the patient, feeling along his ribs and chest and leaning into his chest to monitor for any movement.

Words: 329

Doctor Eugene Butters

The steady rise and fall of the chest you'd hope for a patient in this state was notably absent. This was not a good sign, and the familiar shot of adrenaline that began pumping for emergency patient's lit up inside the doctor like a firework. He ignored the medic's question for just a moment to finish his examination, lifting a gloved finger to the boy's throat to check for a pulse.

It was absent. Eugene grabbed his flashlight and lifted the kid's eyelid, hoping for even the smallest sign of life. Nothing. The adrenaline poured into every limb and he looked at the medic square in the eye and said the only thing he could, the truth.

"Unresponsive. No sign of respiration or heart movement. It came on quickly, but he just went into sudden cardiac arrest." Well, this certainly added excitement to the day. Eugene was hopeful his team would be quick to follow his orders. Being such a young doctor, he sometimes had difficulty with people trusting his judgment immediately. Nevermind that he had trained for his position formally for the past six years, and informally even longer. They just saw his age in his eyes and feared inadequacy.

He wasn't going to let this kid die on his hands. The mom should have brought him as soon as his fever began to climb, but with tensions being as high as they were in the district it was easy to want to avoid such an official place as the Hospital.

"Grab the AED and I'll get started with CPR." The doctor turned away from the medic and, with the aid of Donte, cut the child's shirt off his chest and began to count the compressions. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5...


Words: 289

Doctor Eugene Butters

Eugene wasn't used to working with such a competent medic. Most of his medics listened and obeyed orders, alright, but this one thought a step ahead. He'd make a good Doctor. The eighteen-year-old was impressed, and considered suggesting it once the emergency had cleared. The medic looked about his age, although they wouldn't have been in the same classes considering Eugene had started much younger than average and didn't take much medic-specific classes. Doctors went through a very rigorous training. He didn't see much of anyone outside the program. There was a reason District Six had the best medical professionals in Panem.

"Nicely done," The doctor gave the medic a quick, affirmative nod and then continued in his treatment of the child. He continued compressions and then ordered the patient clear for another shock.

It tore through the child with force, but still, there was no response.

"We need to get him through to an ultrasound immediately to check for medical function of the heart. I'll continue ventilation and compression. You get him cleared for movement," He barked at a nurse as he continued working. "Continue to administer the Epi, he'll need another dose in 90 seconds."

Gene watched his team carry out his orders, his own heart pounding a drumline into his ears. Once the boy was prepped for movement, he threw himself around the table and made sure it was unlocked and ready to move.

"Alright, let's go. Someone grab the door. Move, move, move! We need to get him to the ultrasound room stat."

They began to sprint.

Words: 256

Doctor Eugene Butters

Time paused and dissected itself into tiny movements. Eugene only processed bits and pieces of each second. The scuffle of their sneakers on the linoleum floor as they flew through the Emergency Room and towards the waiting Ultrasound technicians. The gasp of another patient as she realized their emergency involved a tiny child. The wailing of the boy's mother as she clung to the window of the waiting room, screaming the boy's name as they wheeled him further and further away from her.

Eugene let the competent medic take over compressions, grateful for the break as his arms were beginning to get sore. The man looked just as concerned as Eugene felt. He didn't want to lose someone so young in such a tragic way. The boy reminded him too much of his younger siblings, of whom he was fiercely protective. This could be any of them, though he knew his Doctor mother and his Nurse father to be more practical in treatment. It was likely the death of such a young patient would get back to them, and they'd corner him over breakfast the next morning.

'Did you provide the Epi as soon as you suspected Cardiac Arrest?' 'How quickly could you tell his pulsed stopped?' Even his siblings would join in, curious as they were about his work. 'Do we know this boy?' 'Was his mommy sad? Did she cry?' Eugene hated these conversations. His dad always pulled him aside afterwards to talk about how he felt. His mom would bury herself in the bottle, unable to face the demon of death. Eugene rather not talk about his feelings, ever. The only person he trusted with them was Louis, who would listen to the facts without judgment or comment or even soul-searching. Gene respected that. Feelings were not his forte.

The screen flared to life as the technicians finished administering the serum and pressed their instruments to the boy's bruising chest. Eugene stepped forward and examined the black-and-white picture, his eyebrows creasing together in concentration. With a sharp sting of elation, he realized he had found what he was looking for. The tiniest quiver in the boys heart.

It was not hopeless.

"Alright, we have slight movement. I want one more shot of Epinephrine and then we need to administer a dose of Sodium Bicarbonate. I'll continue compressions for another three to five minutes. If we do not achieve resuscitation at this point then we will not be able to."

Dr. Butters did not like sharing the truth so bluntly, but it was obvious what the outcome would be if the patient did not respond within the allotted timeframe. He just hoped he wouldn't have to deliver the news alone.

Words: 445

Doctor Eugene Butters

It seemed like the whole room breathed a collective sigh of relief as the heart-rate monitor began echoing a steady beat. This wave of death had passed. The boy was not going to die in this moment. If they could get him stabilized, it was possible he could make a full recovery. Still, he was surely winded after such an ordeal.

Eugene caught the medic's eye and gave him a grateful nod. He had been a huge help in this success, however temporary it may end up being. The Doctor would thank him later, when they were out of this mess. A coffee break would probably be in order. They still had a long night ahead of them. Eugene decided that he may request shifts with the medic more often. It was a nice change to work with someone who was competent in their own right. Following directions was one thing, but truly, truly showing initiation was a talent not all medical professionals possessed.

"Right. Let's get him wheeled to the ICU and hooked into a ventilator immediately. We may have to artificially pump his heart for a while until he stabilizes. I want him on full life support and 24 hour monitoring. I'll personally examine him and sign off before he can be moved to regular care." Eugene was not one to sit around and praise his team. They were there to perform a job, which they did, and unless they went above and beyond then praise was overkill. He was not there to coddle them.

They finished prepping the patient for his next movement. The boy was still unconscious but he was stabilizing and that was all they could hope for. The move through the ER was swift and acute. It was a path they were all familiar with. The patients who still lingered near their doors echoed the relief the entire team surely felt with jubilant cries. The doctor no longer saw the boy's mother in the window, and wondered if a nurse had taken her outside to calm down. It was cold out there, but icy wind often had a grounding affect.

Once in the ICU, Eugene oversaw the transfer to the ventilator and quickly caught the on-duty doctor up to speed. When he had finished his technical explanation, he left the unit with one last word.

"Please page me once he reached the levels we discussed. I will examine him and sign off on his transfer to the heart unit. Watch out for febrile seizures and make sure the fever is being suppressed. If any urgent change occurs, please let my staff know and I will come assist if I am available."

Only his medic lingered with him. The rest of the team returned to their duties or, more likely, took a break. They always took a short break after a huge emergency. The ER had multiple teams, and for the most part, this was okay.

"Right. Would you like to talk to his mother with me, then?"

Words: 497