Zap !

Our serene workday was punctuated with the sounds of the alarm tones on the Emergency Response Team radio. The dispatcher crackled over the airwaves:

"Base to all units. Be advised, we have a medical emergency at building X. Patient has been electrocuted."

The dictionary definition of electrocution is that the patient has died. Rakesh and I, our cubes close to one another, let out a collective "Oh, shit !", and sped off to the scene.

Medical bag ? Check. Oxygen tanks ? Check. Bag-Valve Mask ? Check. Defibrillator ? Check.

We headed off to the scene, with as much haste as was prudent, adrenaline levels through the roof. We could have a code. We'll probably need to resuscitate. Perhaps our AEDs, that we had fought so dilligently for the company to acquire, would finally be utilized to help save a life.

We arrived on the scene to find our patient..... alive, awake, sitting in a chair with an embarrassed look on his face. "Yeah, I touched the circuit board in the wrong place," he told us.

Wow. That was a rush.

The call was concluded after an evaluation by the Fire Department, and a request that Dispatch use more accurate terminology in the future.

Maybe someday, our AEDs will be used to help save a person's life.

Today, however, was not that day.