Shades Of Gray

A couple things to comment on (I won't comment on abortion, but I think the two sides are pro-life and pro-abortion--oh, I just did):

Zoe had a pulmonary embolus (a blood clot in the lung) and while the injuries from the bombing may have been causative, you should know that pregnancy itself makes a person hypercoagulable. I think it's due to the high estrogen state (birth control pills also increase the risk of one), and that there is venous stasis in the legs because of the weight of the uterus on the large abdominal veins. Initial treatment is first to stabilize respiration and circulation, and IV heparin. If not pregnant, they might try TPA in a decompensating patient, but you can't use it in pregnancy. In regular patients, you'd also start Coumadin, the oral anticoagulant, but this again can't be used in pregnancy. Zoe's evidentally took too long to stabilize and is in a coma, but somehow the baby survived (though brain damage is unknown). As Doug said, the baby's best chance at survival is to stay inside as long as possible.

If you want to think of something sick to look and smell, check out a sacral decubitus ulcer like the one the old man Carter treated has. If you stay too long on your butt (days to weeks), eventually the skin breaks down and you see the muscle. That can break down also and wear through to the bone, and it can get infected and it smells awful. They are near extremely difficult to treat to healing, and often skin grafting will be needed. The important thing is that the person should not stay in the same position for more than a couple hours at a time and should use special mattresses to relieve the pressure on the skin.

Personal opinions: First of all, we see OB problems come through the ER all the time, and there are never people from the department to attend to them. (Sarcastic comment) They must have complete confidence in the ER residents to do the job for them. Next, since learning and performing abortions is optional even in many OB/GYN residencies, I don't think Anna had to be required to do the procedure, knowing there was backup to do it. (When I was in med school, an OB/GYN resident told me that since she had no plans on doing any, she wasn't going to learn it.) Gee, a staff member making a mistake and then covering it up while his buddies in his department want the resident take the fall--how come I'm not surprised? Finally, Carter claimed to only have filed a 1996 tax return--wrong. His first year of surgical residency would span from July 1996 to June 1997, and thus he'd also have a 1997 tax return. Also, unless everything he has is from his trust, we're supposed to believe, given his wealth, that he has no other unearned income from interest, dividends, and capital gains?