Is There A Doctor In The House?

    by Timothy A. Sanborn, MD

Out goes a plea,

Midst a play on Broadway.

Like waking to a midnight beeper,

My muscles tense and heart pounds deeper.

Racing downstairs, the scene’s alarming.

Oxford shirt’s torn open. CPR’s ongoing.

Kneeling down, there’s no pulse to palpate.

Need to shock quickly before it’s too late.

Theater defibrillator arrives and pads are applied.

Machine commands “Shock advised.”

After chest rises, I palpate again.

“He’s got a pulse.” This time it’s bounding!

When ambulance arrives, on their monitor I glance.

A stable heart rhythm continues to dance.

As he departs, I’m thankful for observing,

The color in his face returning.

With a sigh of relief, eyes start flooding,

Muscles relax. Heart stops pounding.

Feeling his pulse and seeing his rhythm,

Has calmed my soul.

© 2013  Timothy A. Sanborn, MD

Timothy A. Sanborn, MD is Head of the Cardiology Division at NorthShore University HealthSystems in Evanston, IL and currently teaches cardiology as a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine.  He has edited a book on Laser Angioplasty and published over 260 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters.  His short stories include “Occupational Sciatica” published in Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions and “What is Calamity?” published in The American Bahai.