Top 10 Ways to Kill Time during the 24-hour duty at the ER


Under ordinary circumstances, life for a clerk assigned at the ER-Surgery Dep't is TOXIC. We provide first-line management for those who come at the Emergency Room due to animal bites, stab wounds, trauma, falls, vehicular accidents, for those who are allegedly mauled, raped, beaten etcetera. But that Friday evening, business was really slow and by 1:30 in the morning, we were freeto do whatever we wanted. Sitti, my team partner and I went to sleep for about two hours at the OPD-Surgery room, afer which we couldn't stand the cold anymore and so we decided to hang-out at the ER instead. The clerks from the other departments were there as well, with nothing to do, since it was a pretty slow night for them as well... except for Ice, from the Obi-Gyne Department. Blame it on all women who decided to conceive a month afer Valentine's Day...Anyway, I decided to compile the Top 10 best things to do at the ER, as a guieline for future clerks who will be assigned to do 24-hour duty soon and will have the luxury of a slow night. Enjoy!

1. Fool around with the weighing scale. Make girls and very vain guys cry when they start weighing themselves and see that they have gained an additional 20 pounds.

2. Eat the lunch and dinner that you have skipped the night before. Follow-it up with a very early breakfast just in case you won't have time to eat anymore in the morning with all the incoming patients.

3. Try catching Hepatitis B and AIDs by washing the used instuments at the sink without wearing any gloves. And on that note...

4. Unsterilize the sterilized instruments by secretly inserting your unwashed hand inside the aseptic trays.

5. Put your bare feet up on the table just because your resident doctor is not there to scold you from doing so.

6. Make fun of the resident who scolded you the night before.

7. Practice voodoo on the resident who scolded you the night before.

8. Practice flirting on the resident who scolded you the night before. Who knows? It just might work!

9. Try to escape for a few minutes and buy some caffeinated drinks outside the hospital. A can of Diet Coke costs P15. The price of few minutes of fresh un-Lysoled air: priceless.

10. Sleep. Best thing to do!