I Cracked His Chest to Save Him

I broke protocol and saved a life but my attending wants me fired. Three AM.

Trauma bay. Nineteen year old coding on the table. No pulse. Attending's stuck

in surgery. Resident frozen like a deer in headlights. I'm just an intern but I've run this

scenario a hundred times in my head. I grabbed the scalpel. Cracked his chest right there.

My hands inside his ribcage, squeezing his heart manually. Blood everywhere.

Alarms screaming. Nurses yelling at me to stop. But I felt it. That first beat

under my palm. Then another. He's alive. Walking out of here next week.

My attending says I'm reckless. Dangerous. That following protocol matters more than