Traumatic Chaos

The semester's end is most certainly signaled by handing in my clinical notebook. A very long definition cut short, a clinical notebook is a summary (of sorts) in which the student outlines his contact with patients in a clinical or practical setting; a hospital or ambulance. I can safely say that not only did I learn how to function as a part of a team addressing an emergency situation, but I also observed that we (the trauma team) often create what the conscious patient and/or family members translates as "chaos" which quickly turns into fear. I have learned that a very big part of our job is to bring order to that chaos. I have learned that the patient needs to can hear, feel and sense our "order." I have learned that the patient will likely have a positive response to our quite but rushed order.