Polite Dissent

After picking on Hourman in JSA All Stars #5 last night, I now turn my attention to JSA All Stars #6, where I get to pick on one of my favorites, Dr. Mid-Nite.

JSA All-Stars #6 Out of the Shadows
Geoff Johns and David Goyer, writer
Stephen Sadowski, penciller

In the prologue to the story, the Spectre states that Dr. Mid-Nite (Pieter Cross) “lost his residency after exposing an insurance scandal”. Assuming Dr Mid-Nite is practicing medicine legally, he must have completed at least his first year of residency training, as this is required to obtain a medical license (some state require two years). Addendum: According to the Washington State Department of Health, two years of residency are required for a full medical license if the physician graduated after 1985. Foreign medical graduates face extra requirements. Pieter mentions that he was born in Norway, but it has not been explicitly stated when he came to the U.S.

Exploring the scene of a gas main explosion, Pieter finds a pregnant woman trapped in a subway car. Carrie, the pregnant patient, informs Pieter that she cannot move because her water just broke. In other words, the membrane holding the amniotic fluid which surrounds the infant has ruptured. Generally, delivery comes shortly (but not immediately) after the rupture, but this is quite variable. Note that Carrie says nothing about contractions, or “being in labor”; other than the rupture of the amniotic membrane, there is nothing more to suggest that delivery is imminent. It would be a good idea to move her to a safer location prior to childbirth.

Dr. Mid-Nite uses his ultrasonic vision to check out the infant. His ultrasound is extremely detailed, much more than current technology, but then he has always been ahead of the curve. There seems to be quite a bit of amniotic fluid surrounding the infant for a mother whose water just broke.

Next, Pieter uses a spray to sterilize everything around them. How necessary is this? Opinions vary. Childbirth is an inherently messy and non-sterile situation. Certainly, extra precautions and cleanliness never hurt. The most important thing (particularly for the mother) is for the doctor to have clean hands during the delivery. However, Dr. Mid-Nite never washes or sterilizes his hands, despite handling debris, skin, and clothes before delivering the baby.

Pieter offers Carrie the narcotics meperidine (Demerol) or butorphanol (Stadol) for the pain, which she declines. Meperidine is not used much in the U.S. for pain control during childbirth, but butorphanol is still common. Generally, narcotic drugs are avoided because they have the potential of slowing the infant’s respiratory drive. As noted in a previous post, offering narcotics to this patient is legally questionable.

Dr. Mid-Nite successfully delivers an infant girl. Umm, where’s the umbilical cord?

After the delivery, Dr. Mid-Nite escorts Carrie and her new daughter to medical help:

The child’s fine. But the mother has a fractured ankle. Minor lacerations. And they both need oxygen stat.

If the infant is fine, then why does she need “oxygen stat.” Same for the mother; if she only has a fractured ankle and minor lacerations, why does she need oxygen.

Maybe they both suffered smoke inhalation, in which case oxygen is an appropriate therapy…but then the infant wouldn’t be “fine”, and Dr. Mid-Nite should have mentioned smoke inhalation in his report to the medics.

To end on a good note, Pieter did swaddle the infant, keeping it warm. This is very important in newborns, as they have poor temperature regulation.