What would you if you walked into the ER at the beginning of your shift and found your intern colleague on the exam table, on all fours, just as in the above image, albeit wearing a white coat?
This was a few years back, when I was doing my internship/house surgeoncy in India. Latha, my friend, was posted in the ER and I was supposed to take over her shift at 600 pm.
Right before I walked in, an elderly gentleman was brought into the ER. He was bitten by a snake.
"What did the snake look like?", Latha had asked in an effort to determine whether it was a poisonous one, which would require treatment with antivenom.
I guess they anticipated this question. The answer came in the form of writhing reptile, very much alive, dropped on the floor from a plastic bag, by patient's son, who was heard exclaiming at the same instant "Sorry, I thought the snake was dead!"
Latha, perched right on top of the table.
Did I have the presence of mind to deal with this situation when I walked in ?
Nope.
The minute I saw the snake, I let out a scream and jumped on top of the same table, and there was barely any space for the two of us.
Thankfully, the security folks were soon in, they took care of the issue. The snake, we later found out was just Coluber mucosus, or the common rat snake/ chera, a nonvenomous one.
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