The emergency room was jammed, and 10 patients were waiting to come back from triage. Maria, the charge nurse, stared at the list of patients’ names, trying to find a way to open up some beds.
“If some can be seen in the hallway, I’ll be glad to start taking care of them,” I said. “We can start clearing out the backlog while we open up some spaces.”
“Works for me.” She asked the triage nurse to bring back a group.
The first was Joey, a blond 15-year-old who’d been having cold symptoms for six days. Good. Should be quick.
“Any other problems?” I asked, turning from the boy to his father.
