Human

There are times, when you are at the peak of sensitivity. You respond to everything, regardless of its miniscule nature. And there are times when your senses are so blunt, that you wonder, “am I the same person?”
I was doing my pediatric posting, and was posted in the Neonatal and Pediatric intensive care unit. I had nothing much to do as the day was light, so was engrossed in a novel. Suddenly I heard some commotion outside, and responded to it by getting up. A Bacchu of about 4-5 years was wheeled in. he was delirious, was calling for his mother, and was bleeding from all possible orifices. He had severely depleted platelets, which his reports revealed. He was immediately hooked up to all possible medical machinery, and his father rushed to get his platelets, and the rest of the relatives were firmly excused from the NICU.
I was standing there, momentarily numbed by the scene. Paediatric emergencies are spooky. They can knock the air off your lungs. Recovering from my trance, I made myself useful. My seniors were trying to intubate him, ( a process where a tube is put in the wind pipe, helping the doctor to achieve proper patient breathing.) now, intubating an adult is relatively easy. But it takes a bit of practice to intubate the children. We cound sense the boy’s end coming near, as he was brought to the hospital a little late. He was chanting his mother’s name, with the big fat tube in his mouth, and the mother was outside somewhere, probably chanting Allah’s name.
I cannot forget the scene. There were four efficient paedritics experts working on him, I was standing near his head, giving him manual breathing. The child was struggling to get free, to get it done with. Maybe he was fighting the ultimate peace. Sadly, the peace won. The boy quit struggling, we lost the pulse and the ecg was flat. Cardioversion was tried, without avail.
My resident (read immediate senior) took me aside. He asked me to accompany him to deliver the news to the parents. Meanwhile, the other residents were practicing the intubation on that dead bacchu. I wanted to scream, I mean the body was not even cold. He looked as good as asleep, and people were trying to practice skills on him.
My mind was asking me, is it human to do so? Does the boy deserve no peace? Immediately I answered back, it is necessary. This is how we learn. Maybe someday some other life may be saved.