My close call with fainting at work

I work in a doctors office where the providers perform minor procedures such as wart removals and wound checks. One of the girls that I work with has diabetes and got an infection in her pinkie finger when she got a manicure a few months ago. The infection was starting to turn her finger yellow and green and the doctor that I work for told her that she might have to have her whole pinkie finger amputated.

She went into the surgeon yesterday and had her nail removed along with the infection around her nail. The surgeon ended up removing infection down to the bone.

In order to keep infection from returning, causing a chance of having the finger amputated all together, she has to have it cleaned really well twice a day.

One of our Medical Assistance volunteered to do it today. Me, having the morbid curiosity that I do, asked if I would watch our MA do it.

**Spring of '07 I took a criminal justice class at Weber State. Our professor, Kelly Sparks, gave a project to learn first hand how the criminal justice system works. My mom drove Ambulance for 10 years for Davis County so she is really good friends with a lot of cops and paramedics. I went on a ride along with one of her friends, who is a paramedic, and we got a call to respond to a rollover on I-15. When we responded to this call there was blood everywhere and the girl who's car was on it's side, and who had caused the accident, had her wrist bone poking out of her skin and many cuts and gashes everywhere. I had no problem handling that and thought it was awesome... I know I'm weird**

Anyways, Kari, our MA, took off Christina's bandages and revealed a odd looking pinkie finger. The nail was missing and all I saw was a dark pit of bloody tissue and bone. It was pretty awesome! I was doing fabulously and was way into watching Kari clean it out... that is until the smell of blood and Iodine trailed up my nostrils. I felt my body go weak, my head go fuzzy, my vision blur and my legs shake. I was very grateful for the bench behind me because I sat right down in it. I continued watching Kari gently clean the wound, but my thoughts kept getting fuzzier. I felt like I was going to pass out or throw up...

Kari finished cleaning the wound and then wrapped it back up. I felt the wave of nausea slowly pass after lying down on the bench for a minute, but was able to get back to work soon after.

I thought it was odd that I was able to see bone poking out of some drunk girls wrist, but could not handle watching my co-workers finger get cleaned.

I have decided though that if I am going to continue working in the medical field I need to build up "immunities" to those kinds of things.... so later, when Kari cleans the wound out again... I'm going to watch!