ConAgra

Woah! Today was pretty nuts and tomorrow might be even crazier. UNC has the biggest burn unit on the East Coast south of NYC, so we are getting a whole bunch of patients who were hurt in the ConAgra explosion earlier today (BBG News). The Christina Yang in me feels super lucky to be rotating with the burn dietitian this week. (Sorry for the Grey's Anatomy reference.) I got to see an escharotomy, which is when they make a large incision in the burned skin to lessen the pressure caused by massive fluid resuscitation (25 L in some patients!). I could smell the smoke that was produced by the surgical device they used to make the incision from down the hall. When I looked in the room, the massively bloated Disaster Patient #1 was lying on the table. One arm already had a huge incision down the length of it and there was blood everywhere. The doctors who had been so calm and seemed almost bored during rounds this morning were busy at work, surrounded by everyone else in the burn unit ready to do whatever was needed. It was definitely the coolest thing I have seen so far in my rotation.

I think tomorrow we will probably have to make a number of TF recs for the patients who have come in. Luckily, my RD hasn't been keeping us on a very short rope so far, so there is a good chance that I will be able to really help out!