A Long Day

[Sean Keane 0]

Making a few last adjustments to the settings of the biobed Sean took a deep breath. He hadn't counted how many patients he had treated today but it had been definitely many more than he had ever treated before in a single day.

 

The man in front of him was still unconscious and Sean intended to keep him that way. The injuries were such that if the man woke up he would probably be in considerable pain. Better to let him sleep through the worst. Sean quickly checked the plasma infusion unit. Satisfied with everything he turned to look for the next patient who needed his attention.

 

He didn't need to look for long. On the biobed next to the man he'd just treated was sitting a woman about Sean's age. She was cradling her right arm and she obviously was in pain. Sean wondered why no-one had got around to giving her an analgesic, yet.

 

One look around sickbay answered his question. The room was packed with patients. Nurses, medics and doctors were bustling about, doing their best to help everyone. It looked like pure chaos but Sean knew it was not.

 

A nurse whose name he could not remember looked at Sean from across the biobed. He nodded then turned his attention to the woman on the biobed and smiled at her. “I'm Doctor Keane. Where exactly does it hurt?” he asked while gently taking the woman's arm.

 

“Wrist,” she managed to say.

 

Sean nodded and turned to the nurse. “Please get me a hypo with asinolyathin.” The nurse reached for a tray next to the bed and retrieved a hypo. Sean took it and administered it to the patient. The woman's features relaxed almost instantly as the analgesic took effect. She even managed a weak smile.

 

Putting away the hypo Sean began his examination of the hurt arm. He started moving the elbow then carefully rotated the forearm before actually taking a look at the wrist. A preliminary scan with a tricorder did not yield any conclusive results. So Sean decided to do this 'old style'.

 

He knew that despite the analgesic the examination of the wrist and hand would probably still be painful. Slowly he moved the thumb and then he carefully felt the base of the thumb. He watched the woman's face attentively. Just as he applied a bit of pressure she winced in pain.

 

Sean nodded. “Sorry. Can you try to grip my finger, please?” he asked, holding out his index. The woman did so but hardly moved her thumb in the attempt. Turning to the nurse he said, “Pressure to the anatomical snuffbox produces a jump sign, problem gripping objects and swelling in the thumb area of the wrist. I'd say a broken scaphoid bone but the tricorder would have shown that.”

 

Before the nurse could even answer Sean leaned a bit closer to his patient. “You've got a partially fractured bone in your wrist. We'll use an osteogenic stimulator to heal the fracture. You'll be out of here in no time.”

 

The young woman smiled at Sean and just nodded. Sean gave some instructions to the nurse and walked off to take care of the next patient. This would still be a long day.