Polite Dissent

Scene from Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #3. Words by Straczynski, Pencils by Wieringo

Good job everyone! I think you got almost all the errors on my list, plus caught a few I missed.

Here’s the list I came up with:

1. Anatomy. The vena cava is a vein, not an artery (and it’s the “superior vena cava,” not the “upper vena cava”). A collpased lung is in the chest, not the abdomen.
2. Sterile Technique. Only the surgeon facing us is scrubbed in (he’s the only one in a full gown). At the very least, the OR Tech should be scrubbed in as she is handing him supposedly sterile equipment.
3. General Operating Room Technique. What’s with all the papers/cloths on the floor? Not are they liable to trip someone, the nurse carefully counts all equipment like that — several times during the operation — to make sure nothing is left inside the patient. There should be some sort of screen between the anesthesiologist (especially since he’s not sterile) and the patient. And what’s with all the blood? There should never be that much blood on the floor — or the patient for that manner.
4. Lines. Peter needs IV fluids, lots of them. Just a hint, if there’s enough blood to make a puddle on the floor, the patient probably needs a transfusion, or at the very least IV fluids. There should be a suction machine as well, to suck up all the blood, especially in the surgical field.
5. Airway. Peter should have been intubated. However, if he’s been so beaten up that he can’t be intubated in the normal manner, there is always nasal intubation or a trach. Anyway, if he’s that beaten up then there’s no way a mask would work.
6. Machines. What’s with all the machines? It’s like that scene in the beginning of Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life where they keep looking for the machine that goes “ping!” Also, if you’re going to have a light box for x-rays inside the OR (and most do), it would be a good idea to position it so that the surgeon can see it (and that is the most bizarre “rib” x-ray I have ever seen).
7. Emergency Care. Despite being injured, Peter was never placed on a back board or neck brace (I know it’s not in this scene, but I’m counting it anyway). Remember, the ABCs - Airway (mentioned earlier), Breathing (Hello? Collapsed lung? This should be what is fixed first), Circulation (after A and B are taken care of, then the surgeons can address all the rest of the bleeding). Peter’s in shock and ORs are cold — he should be covered up.
8. Lights. The lights are way too far back — they’re should be right over the patient. The shadows are bad — the surgeon’s shadow obstructs the surgical field and that would never happen in real life.