Seconds count.
A man has been shot in the stomach. The bullet nicked a major artery from
the heart. Without surgery, he'll bleed to death.
Surgical technologist Kevin Frey is part of the team that will save the
man's life. It's his job to prepare the operating room. Frey needs to know
what implements the surgeon will need and put them within easy reach.
"It's real fast -- a knife to get him open, two cardiovascular clamps,
then suture him up, and there you go," says Frey. It's best to go with the
minimum to keep the surgeon's work area uncluttered. "Part of it is also getting
to know the surgeons and what they like and anticipating their needs."
The bleeding has been stopped: the man will live. Frey has to get the operating
room ready for the next case.
Frey works for the Association of Surgical Technologists in Englewood,
Colorado. He applied for training as a surgical technologist on a whim. "I
liked medicine, and a lot of my family are in the medical field, but I didn't
want to be a doctor." Too much school. Too much responsibility. His sister,
a nurse, suggested he consider surgical technology.
When he started classes, Frey knew he was in the right career. "This may
sound sick, but you can actually cut someone open, put something in or take
it out, sew them up again, and it works!"
It gives Frey a real kick to see a former patient walking out of the hospital
later. "Sometimes you run into them in a store and they remember you," says
Frey.
"When I was in high school, I didn't know surgical technicians existed,"
says Karyn Songer in Denver. Songer decided to become a certified technician
when she started working in the office of a surgical staff placement business.
"Surgical technology is really opening up," she says.
Songer still works with the placement agency, but now she can scrub up
for the operating room when she wants to. "I love it. It's such a rush to
be in surgery, involved in a life-or-death matter."
After he finished his academic training, Frey joined the military and worked
at a military hospital. He says he learned right away to be ready for anything.
"You have your routine cases, but even those can bottom out," he says.
Case in point: a routine hysterectomy where the patient had
a heart attack on the table. "She lived. But you have to stop what you're
doing and deal with that."
While with the military, Frey also took part in some landmark surgery that
removed a gallbladder with the use of scopes. Previous surgery required a
four- to six-inch incision on the stomach and a six- to eight-week recovery.
The new surgery left practically no scar and the patient could leave the hospital
that day and recover in five days. "We were one of the first hospitals to
do it," says Frey.
Frey was also part of a two-month exchange program with Colombia. Working
in a regional clinic was an eye-opener.
"Their sterile techniques weren't the best," remembers Frey. "When it was
time to clean, they just wiped everything off with alcohol."
The team brought in a desktop model sterilizer for the clinic. The exchange
happened before the drug wars made Colombia dangerous for foreigners, but
Frey says they were granted an extra level of protection after they treated
a boy who was shot in the side.
"It was the local drug lord's kid. We didn't even know until about five
days later. I guess he told people if they bothered us, they'd have to answer
to him. No one bothered us!"
During the Gulf War, Frey was assigned to the equivalent of a MASH unit
in Saudi Arabia. "The army didn't send over a lot of medical people at first,"
remembers Frey.
Trauma cases -- which would be number one in any other hospital -- had
to wait because they arrived a minute after someone else with the same wounds.
After the war, Frey decided not to re-enlist. "I'd seen enough."
Songer says surgical technologists need to develop a tough skin. "You have
to be aggressive," she explains. "You have to be in this industry. If not,
you're stepped on and walked over by everyone."
At the same time, surgical technologists have to demonstrate a willingness
to do things. "Remember your roots. You're never too good to mop a floor or
turn over a room."
Frey now works on call to Colorado hospitals. He's also writing educational
material for the Association of Surgical Technologists. Even with his present
administrative duties, Frey always returns to the operating room. He's still
fascinated by surgery.
"I love human anatomy. People hear the horror stories, but they never hear
the stories of what a body can do -- heal."