A Locum’s ScrapBook: The 3 Amigos..
Editor’s Note:
To view the entire “Locum’s ScrapBook” series- click here
My life is Family First and then Perfusion. I switched from staff perfusionist to becoming a Locum’s traveler to make sure my kids and family would have a solid place to call home. I travel because it puts me in charge of my life, it is challenging, and I enjoy learning new techniques, other ways of doing things, as well as getting exposure to alternate approaches and paradigms.
So I took my show on the road. As such, every once in awhile I will be dropping a few notes and pictures of places visited, and observations made. In a sense, the beginning of a scrap book on Open Heart Surgery in America (and other places if possible).”
Enjoy 🙂
Frank
Gotta build a new nest- to settle in while I’m down here 🙂
A Locums ScrapBook: The 3 Amigos
Another perfusion adventure as I drive south- further down the throat of the Midwest- to nestle myself into a tri-state border area and settle into the 3 Amigos- or more aptly described: as 3 new clinical sites each with its own set of nuanced circuits, and somewhat animated surgeons.
Of course, gotta do the lab work certifications and training 🙂
It’s a pick your poison rotation of centrifugals at one site, rollers at the next one- and various paradigm shifts in terms of approaches to myocardial protection. You just have to know when and when NOT to clamp your arterial line.
A grab bag so to speak of Custodial, Del Nido, Plegisol with a potassium chaser, and some Buckburg solution laying around here and there.
The Staff here are seasoned, kind, and helpful- grateful for an ounce of daylight in the form of sane experienced perfusion help- which I ostensibly (and hopefully) represent).
The idea is to help- not hinder, and at the same time get up to speed as fast as possible while navigating personalities WITHOUT becoming a personality myself during the process.
A shout out here to 3 very decent perfusionists at one of the clinical sites: JE LQ and MB– (you know who you are behind those mysterious letters lol). Thanks for the help, the perfusion tips (flowing 400 cc’s through your shunts, with the arterial line clamped on a rollerhead pump- to deliver just the right amount Q when rolling up to connect your arterial line to the aortic cannula). Now THAT is just SWEET!
Siphoning a drop of blood for the Hemacue cuvette- from the ISTAT cartridge is also an elegant flourish that’s adds some fluid grace when running labs. Thanks JE.
And a little further South East we have another facility right across the border with MK running that ship. Now this is a guy I ran across a very long time ago. We share many friends and perfusion colleagues that we have encountered during our itinerant career paths, and pretty much have a common mindset in terms of adhering to specific clinical perfusion practices.
We’ve laughed pretty hard since I’ve been down here, and it’s only the second day.
The beast below, is a DaVinci Robot advancing slowly to the surgical field to mate with its operating appendages. State of the Future- and a blast from the past…Robotic heart surgery. Arnold Swartzeneggar has nothing on this surgical MEGATRON.
Meanwhile, a patient goes on emergent bypass in the OR next door. Today. I’m Just an insurance policy- tomorrow it’s back North West to pump a couple cases for another new (to me) surgeon.
Sent from my iPhone
