A Call Day in the Medical ICU

• 5:00 a.m. – Rise and shine!
• 5:30 a.m. – Eat breakfast 
• 5:45 a.m. – Leave for work
• 6:05 a.m. – Review vitals and overnight events for existing patients, read up on new admits
• 6:30 a.m. – Get sign-out from the night team
• 6:45 a.m. – Divide patient assignments, orient new neuro critical care fellow and 4th year med student
• 6:50 a.m. – See an ED consult for UTI with septic shock due to an obstructing stone, review the plan with the R2, admit and arrange for IR nephrostomy
• 7:30 a.m. – Place central line
• 8:00 a.m. – Pre-round on patients, review labs and orders
• 9:00 a.m. – Start attending rounds
• 9:30 a.m. – Another ED consult for angioedema, discuss the plan with the R2, admit for close airway monitoring
• 10:00 a.m. – Teach medical students about rapid shallow breathing index, peak and plateau pressures, and mechanical ventilation in COPD; discuss clotting cascade and treatment of a patient with acquired Factor VIII deficiency using recombinant Factor VIIa
• 12:30 p.m. – Lunch!
• 1:15 p.m. – Finish attending rounds
• 2:30 p.m. – Staff new admissions with the attending: the two ED consults from the morning plus two more, ESRD on non-invasive ventilation and acute alcohol withdrawal
• 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. – Team admits six in three hours... phew!
• 6:00 p.m. – Place central line and a-line on newly intubated patient 
• 6:30 p.m. – Sign-out to the night team
• 7:00 p.m. – Head home 
• 7:30 p.m. – Dinner with family, put the kids to bed, relax
• 9:30 p.m. – Off to sleep for another busy day tomorrow​!