Letter: Beaufort Memorial staff heroic

If you need a break from the horrendous and depressing headlines where it seems the world is spinning out of control, here’s a more comforting story.

This week a woman was in labor at Beaufort Memorial Hospital. Things were progressing well and it appeared she would deliver fairly soon.

Then the baby’s heart rate began to show signs of distress, and then it quickly got worse. It was obvious that the baby needed to be delivered immediately, but there was still an hour or so of labor to go. The decision was made to proceed with an emergency Caesarean section, but the c-section room was in use.

One phone call by the unit secretary and both the operating room team and the labor-and-delivery staff moved at lightning speed to a different operating room. Nurses, nursery personnel, an anesthetist, an anesthesiologist and a pediatrician all appeared in an instant, moving quickly, calmly, and professionally with the result being a healthy 8 pound 12 ounce girl.

I took a fleeting moment to look around the operating room at the 15 or so people all working together with such a collective sense of purpose. All these people, just a minute ago, had been involved in other duties, but without hesitation came to our aid and pitched in. It was genuinely an inspiring site.

What a blessing it is to live in a community where the hospital has such a talented, well-trained, and caring staff. At least this small part of the world is still spinning as it should.

This story was originally published July 19, 2016 at 5:14 PM with the headline "Letter: Beaufort Memorial staff heroic."