Embarrassment

As you may have read, there is a very strict protocol to which we adhere for every trauma patient who hits the door.  After assessing the airway and making sure that the patient is breathing and has a heartbeat, we completely disrobe every patient and examine everything, front and back.  Things usually go very smoothly, but every now and then something happens that breaks the protocol and sends things into a tailspin.  Sometimes I'm the cause of that.

A 79 year old woman was just brought to me having tripped and fallen.  She landed on her face, but on arrival she was alert and breathing normally, so we continued the protocol and disrobed her down to her underwear.  The nurses turned her to the side so I could assess her back, and after I had done so the head nurse asked me if I could unhook her bra while she was still lying on her side.  Without thinking, I reached over and deftly unhooked it with one hand in a single smooth motion, not even realising how it might look.

Of course, the nurses noticed immediately.

The nurses, ER techs, and even the radiology techs all immediately started hooting and hollering at my ability to undo a bra so easily.  They started laughing about what that might mean.

If you ever wondered if I am capable of blushing, the answer is a resounding "yes".