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Longmont Journeys: Beginning as an EMT, this ER doctor values the insight of entire team for patient care

Each team member is valued for their expertise on Rush's team.

“People experience some of their worst days when they visit the ER (emergency room),” Adam Rush, emergency room physician and a current medical staff resident at Longmont United Hospital. However, Rush uses the insight of the entire ER team to deliver the best patient care possible.  

Rush has always had a love for science. As a freshman in high school, his science teacher suggested that he become a doctor, a suggestion Rush brushed off.

“I wanted to get into some kind of (science) field, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do,” Rush said.

As a way to explore what a medical career might look like for Rush, in college, he underwent the typical six-month process to become an EMT tech in the ER. 

“I wanted to see what it was like,” Rush said. “I wanted to see if I liked working with sick people and working in a hospital and that kind of science. It was the first job that two years into it I was like ‘I still love this.’”

Prior to becoming an EMT, Rush has only kept a job for a maximum of 10 months before growing bored or tired of it. Although he had found a career that held his interest, the dilemma was not over yet. 

He and his wife, Julia, moved to Chicago where Rush began applying for medical and culinary arts schools. 

“I love to cook,” Rush said. 

It was not long before acceptance letters began to come in, but the one that beat them all was an acceptance to medical school. So Rush set out to be a doctor.

Excited to begin medical, Rush immediately, on the second day, faced one of the hardest days in America’s history, September 11, 2001. 

“That shaped a bunch of training, Homeland Security and how medical practice was directed,” Rush said. 

The challenges of 9/11 did not deter Rush as he continued medical school and working as an EMT in downtown Chicago ER. 

In 2009, Rush was ready for another move and he and his wife decided upon Longmont to be closer to her family and bringing four generations of women together, including his daughter, his wife, her mother and her grandmother. 

Having settled into Longmont, Rush once again returned to the ER. 

“It is a part of the reason I like medicine in general. The one main thing I really like about the ER is the variety, you never really know what is going to come in next. We take care of people of all ages, from birth to 100-years-old and beyond. We take care of men. We take care of women. We take care of any person from the community whether they are living on the streets or one of our local politicians. We take care of sports athletes, movie stars. Every single time I walk into the room, it’s just me interacting with another human being,” Rush said. 

Rush enjoys being able to help each individual with their medical needs, hoping he can help them feel better. However, he does not feel he could do it without the entire ER team there to back him up. 

Rush said the ER team works differently than other areas of the hospital where doctors examine patients, write the orders, hand the orders to a nurse who then sets those orders into action. In the ER, the team collaborates and fulfills the needs of patients without the hierarchy, he said.   

“The ER is a much more autonomous location where a tech can say ‘this person needs oxygen’ and puts them on oxygen. The hierarchy doesn’t have to hold perfectly. The doctor has to override everything and put in the orders to make sure things are appropriate but there is a solid teamwork there between the techs, the nurses and the doctors. Everybody has their own insight and expertise,” Rush said.      

Collaboration is still key, but Rush encourages all members of the ER team to weigh in to ensure the patient has the best care possible. 

“I want to make sure my whole team feels respected and has the ability to say ‘you haven’t had a chance to see him (a patient) yet. I am going to help him until you get here.’ I want them to step in and do that,” Rush said. 

When the ER becomes busy, communication and collaboration become more key to helping all patients quickly and efficiently. Rush finds that when he takes a calm approach and even becomes quieter, the stress level of the situation also calms, enabling staff to communicate more efficiently.  

“I try to create that sense of calm and create that ability for everybody to listen a little bit easier and let go of some of the chaos so they can focus on what their jobs are,” Rush said. 

At the beginning of the pandemic, the ER staff were concerned that they would be overrun with patients, however, their numbers dropped 30%, Rush said. However, in recent months the ER has been very busy now that people are returning to usual activities and experiencing more minor injuries as well as an increase of sick people because of the delta variant of the coronavirus. 

The increase of patients only gives Rush an opportunity to practice some of the skills he learned from his days as an EMT. Instead of waiting for a nurse or another team member to find the time to do minor things for a patient, Rush jumps in, often fetching coffee or starting IVs. 

“Starting from that side (as an EMT) of the medical team and working to where I am now has been eye-opening and insightful to recognize the importance of the players on the team,” Rush said.  “I have always considered the work I do a service to my community … I do it for my patients. And I love doing it for my patients.”


 

Macie May

About the Author: Macie May

Macie May has built her career in community journalism serving local Colorado communities since 2017.
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