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Bloodletting
20 September 2004\Ve`ne*sec”tion\, n. [NL. venaesectio; L. vena vein + sectio section.] The act or operation of opening a vein for letting blood; bloodletting; phlebotomy.
20th September 2004 0830hrs, a group of second year medical students were initiated into the world of venesection. The world of beautiful veins, syringes and veins. Here’s what happened during the “blood initiation”…
Lesson no. 1: Universal precautions
Lesson no. 1 = Lesson repeated time and again = Lesson-we-better learn-and-remember-or-we’ll-get-scolded-like-mad = Something-I-repeat-here-and-I-will-get-sick-of-reading-my-own-blog
But it does make me wonder… How often are these precautions practiced in real life? Come on, count the number of personnels who actually wear gloves while doing the dextrostix test.
Lesson no. 2: Needles and syringes are cheap
:P It was highly amusing to see Sr Teoh throwing needle after needle away because she was demonstrating how to attach the needle to the syringe. And again and again when she was demonstrating how to dispose of them into the sharps bin.
Richard: “There goes another!!!”
Lesson no. 3: Good vein = Palpable vein
“Veins you can see are superficial ones, you don’t want that. You want a palpable vein. Come, feel this…” And this was followed by 5 or 6 students touching and feeling the poor victim’s vein and then exclamations of “OH!!! So nice!!! You’ve got very nice veins leh… *poke poke*”
Adrian: “It’s only in medical school that you find people are so interested in the state of their friends’ veins.”
Lesson no. 4: Don’t leave your victim’s tourniquet on while you’re trying to muster confidence
So you found a victim… convinced him to sit and let you have your way with his cubital fossa. You put on the tourniquet, put on your gloves, swab swab swab, drenching your victim’s arm with alcohol, find his oh-so-beautiful vein, now, the time has come… No. Wait. Scared. Breathe. Breathe somemore. Scared. Looks at CSU teacher for guidance. He shows you how exactly you’re to poke the needle in. Suddenly you discover that your victim’s telling you “Oi!!! My hand’s numb lah!!! *takes off tourniquet*” Oops, looks like you gotta repeat the process again!!! *swab swab swab* *feel feel feel*
Me: “Aiyo… kesian lah. Poor guy (refering to the victim) already damn scared, this is just making him even more afraid!!!”
Lesson 5: And when you remove the needle, do it in one swift and smooth motion
By now, we would have done whatever is necessary (or have failed to get the vein) and want to remove the needle. For this, I’ve got 2 scenario. One with me as the victim, the other with me as the “torturer”
Scenario 1…”Oi! Don’t bend the thing leh!!!”
Me: “Bending the needle while it’s still inside hurts lah!”
Scenario 2…”Quick lah!”
Adrian: “Agonising”
That concludes the initiation process. I left with greater insight into the world of venesection. Oh btw, I’ve got little spots on my arm, they started appearing once Adrian put the tourniquet on. Petechiae! I wonder if something’s wrong. *gulp* Nevermind that I’ve been told it’s alright, there most probably isn’t anything wrong. I’m hypochondriac. *gulp* *worried*
To Adrian (Ya, I know you don’t read my blog), Thanks for being my victim :) I hope I didn’t cause any serious damage.
To anyone else from M203, if you’re looking for nice veins, go look for Adrian (heh heh). Beautiful veins.
on September 20th, 2004 at 7:48 pm
You’re so vein… You think this song is about you.. you’re so VEIN… I just found out my venflon was the largest needle… no wonder it was so painful during my premature ordeal!!! boohoohoohoo… how can your friend Adrian so willingly be a victim!!?
on September 20th, 2004 at 8:06 pm
Huh? What song?
As for Adrian.. well.. er.. I was his victim mahz…
on September 20th, 2004 at 10:59 pm
ohh… becoming each other’s victim. =P
nurses always have trouble finding my veins. blood test, blood donation. semua got trouble. they would hit..hit.. rub..rub.. then hit again.. then they tell me my vein very diff to find. =P
on September 21st, 2004 at 2:24 am
YP song “You’re so Vain” by Carly Simon
on September 21st, 2004 at 2:49 am
LOL. Sorry, ultimate blurness here
on September 21st, 2004 at 12:57 pm
due to lack of exercise and putting on weight, Buaya’s vein susah cari liao :(
on January 13th, 2007 at 6:16 pm
[…] CSU sessions have always been a little nutty for me. I was not (and am not) the conscientious student who will study a few days in advance. Most of the time I’ll read 5 minutes before going for the session and sometimes, even as I’m sitting in the briefing room waiting for the lecturer to come in and I cannot seem to remember to get my nails cut! I’ve been caught several times with questions I cannot answer and you should see the ultra blank look on my face! Despite all the times I fouled up during CSU and OSCE, clinical skills have always been one of my favourite bit of the entire course. There were really fun experiences too! Like the venesection class back in Sem3 and when Dr Tim was showing off his artistic side during one of the extra sessions we had with him. […]