My first C-section - and yes, I passed out in the OR...

It was the second night on night float, and it was some time around 11pm. I was working with the resident that was scheduled to do any emergent C-sections that night. I was super excited. This was going to be the first one that I would see and help with.

The nurses were great in showing me how to scrub in properly. I had scrubbed in for a laparoscopic procedure the previous night but I was still very shabby. I didn't have time to introduce myself to the anesthesiologist as he was in the middle of taking care of numbing the nervous looking woman.

The chief resident (probably the best resident teacher I have worked with to date) and the 2nd year resident were the ones doing the C-section that night. My role as the medical student was going to be to help with suctioning (estimated blood loss for most C-sections is >500cc), help holding bladder blades (to make sure that the bladder is out of the way when cutting into the uterus) and a few other things. As with most surgeries that I attended, my residents taught me by asking questions about the anatomy, and by showing me structures that were needed to be identified. I was very comfortable in answering "I do not know" to any question that I had no clue about. Never having seen a pelvic surgery before, this was the most frequently used answer. The residents did not even once make me feel as if I were incompetent or stupid. They were extremely supportive.

The room was getting quite hot as time went on. The lights in the operating room get very hot, very quickly. At baseline, I get hot very easily. I grew up in Tanzania, at the equator, but my hometown is 5000ft above sea level, meaning that the weather there never got unbearably hot - and that is my reason/excuse for feeling hot so easily. But I digress.

I was really enjoying this C-section. We had gone through the abdominal layers, and through the uterus. The baby was born. A tiny and very cute looking young girl was brought into this world. I continued to hold down the bladder blade, while trying to soak in the entire experience. 45 minutes or so had passed by at this point. The next thing I knew, the chief resident, who was standing next to me, was tapping my shoulder and telling me to let go of the bladder blade. She was asking me if I was ok. She was telling me to take a seat. And then it hit me.

Did I just pass out in the OR?

Am I THAT med student?

The anesthesiologist was pulling up a chair for me. He told me that I could take off my gown as it would make me feel better. Of course, all I was saying at this point was "I am doing fine, and I am so sorry - I think it just got too hot for me." And I was doing ok at that point. I felt cooler and I felt better. But clearly, it had already happened. At some point, I guess I got too hot and didn't realise what was happening, and had a syncopal episode.

On a scale of 1-10, I was about a 15 in terms of how embarrassed I was.

One of the nurses took me outside as it was much cooler there. Although I felt better at that point, it was the right thing to do. The nurse gave me some apple juice and a little snack. All I could think of while drinking the juice was a) I hope the patient is doing fine and I didn't do any harm and b) Wow, did that just happen?

20 minutes later, I decided to go back into the OR and see what was happening. The residents were just finishing up. All seemed well and that was very calming. They were finishing up the surgery.

I still had no clue as to what had happened. Upon asking my chief resident, this is how the story went: I started leaning onto my chief resident. She told me that some medical students do that to get a better view. But supposedly, she did not expect me to do that, and immediately thought something was going on. The resident across from me tried calling my name but I was not responding. They had then realised that I was about to pass out. They tried to get me to release the bladder blade, but being the dedicated med student I am (cough cough), I wasn't letting go of the blade. That is when I finally recovered and heard my chief resident's voice. The entire episode lasted 45 seconds or so. I continued to apologise as I felt terrible about the incident. The chief resident then went on to tell me her story about when she passed out during her surgery rotation in medical school. The 2nd year resident then shared her story. And then both residents took the time to ensure me that it was not unusual for this to happen.

At about 3am that night, four hours since this incident, I was back in the OR with the same 2 residents helping out on another C-section. They taught me just like before, as if nothing had happened. The asked me questions, just like before. The same anesthesiologist gave me a friendly nod. I saw a full C-section, from beginning to end, with no interruptions this time, and it was awesome.

Gosh, I love medical school!