A Shift with a Doctor in the ED

Salman Khalid, MD CCFP (EM) Staff Emergency Physician, Milton District Hospital

It’s 8 p.m. on a Saturday when the red patch phone rings— an unmistakable alarm that sends a chill through the room. The Charge Nurse answers while the rest of us gather, waiting. “Forty-four year old female, found unresponsive. ETA six minutes.” Instantly, we assemble in the resuscitation room. Gowns. Gloves. Ventilator. IV lines. Ultrasound.

“I imagine the patient: is this a heart attack? A stroke? An overdose? Will she have a spouse following behind the ambulance? Children? Parents? These thoughts don’t change the medical decisions we’re about to make, but they remind me why we do this work.”

For a moment, we stand around the empty stretcher, bracing for the unknown. The doors open. The patient arrives half-conscious, struggling to breathe. Our team moves with practiced speed — oxygen mask on, IVs in, cardiac monitor connected.

I call over my colleague. We both know what this could mean: a life-threatening blood clot in the lungs. We also know there’s a drug that can dissolve it, but if we’re wrong, the drug itself could be fatal. We need certainty. Thankfully, there is time to rush her to the CT scanner — technology that exists here because of community support. The scan confirms it: massive clots filling both lungs.

We administer the medication. Within fifteen minutes, her blood pressure rises and her heart strengthens. She is stabilizing. Before transferring her to the ICU, her partner and children gather at her bedside, holding her hands, whispering love.

I share this story because while equipment like our CT scanner saves lives, it is truly an investment in people — nurses, physicians, respiratory therapists, technicians — who walk into the chaos of the ER every day with purpose, compassion, and resolve. The people of Milton District Hospital are its greatest strength.

In 2024, I spent a month on a humanitarian mission where emergency rooms overflowed, and essential tools, like CT scanners, simply didn’t exist. That deepened my appreciation for what we have here and why community support matters.

Every donor gives for a personal reason, but at its heart, a hospital is a reflection of its community. Your generosity ensures that when someone walks through our doors and says, “I need help,” we are ready. Every piece of equipment we use, every lifesaving decision we make, every moment of comfort we offer is strengthened by the support from each one of you..