The story of a “LUCAS”

 When I landed in the United States on the 26^th of October, 2022, I had an open mindset to a completely different culture and system, and a courageous heart welcoming every challenge on my way. I was simply amazed by every aspect of science and technology I saw. Something, as simple as a contactless automatic door system and an automatic flush of the public toilets, made me think. Why not?  We even struggle to keep the pans of the public toilets of many public places and highways, at least empty for the next person to use them.

Doing observership and externship in the hospitals, I was delighted to learn about the Electronic Medical Recording system. Updated, integrated, and confidential medical information in one setting has revolutionized health care. Different features of the EMR system were something I would expect, after witnessing the technology in every aspect of daily life. From my first day as an extern, I was impressed and captivated by the quality of life people were living in the United States, after surviving a massive heart attack, stroke, multiple comorbidities, multiple carcinomas, and multiple surgeries. In my life, I have seen a lot of people dying because of one carcinoma, and the quality of life degraded after stroke, myocardial infarction, or major illnesses. And, the survival rate of out-hospital cardiac arrest is almost nil in my country. That particular curiosity became comprehensive each day after witnessing the patient care, and the latest technology. The more days I spent there, the more I realized that the effectiveness of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) has a more significant role to play. One night, at about 2 AM, there was a road traffic accident just outside of the house I was renting. I was overwhelmed to see the EMS team and ambulance arrive within 2 minutes of the accident. Effective and timely management of any illnesses must be the key to quality of life, I then realized.

But the main reason I wrote this blog is LUCAS 3, V3.1. March 30, 2023, was a usual day in the Emergency Department of one Hospital. I was reviewing the patients in the waiting room when I heard an overhead announcement, “Code Blue, on way to Room No. X13 (name changed), Code Blue, on way to Room No. X13”. I saw every staff member making quick arrangements to get ready to receive a new patient with cardiac arrest. I was still perplexed and thinking, “Why is code blue? Is the patient still in arrest on the way? Are the paramedics from the EMS team doing chest compressions on the patient’s stretcher? How is it even possible to transport someone? Is the rhythm unshockable then? etc.’’. I was curious and confused. Then, I saw the EMS team entering the hallway with the patient on a stretcher and an automated cardiac compression machine continuously compressing the patient’s chest. That turned me speechless. Never in my most innovative medical fantasies, had I imagined something like that.

I was astonished by the advancement and innovation in health technologies to that level, and many more on the way. That was something that made me think twice about any seemingly impossible things and think differently when I want to make something organized and effective. I used to share that experience with many medical and non-medical personnel. Till today, I wonder how highly impressed I was with the chest compressing machine, even after being a doctor and witnessing lots of advanced equipment and procedures. I do highly appreciate that, that organized health system is a result of an insightful mind, a huge budget of investment, continuous surveillance, and constant efforts. And, I look forward to working in such an innovative environment and hopefully contributing to yet another milestone in the health sector in the future.