How many people does it take

A little while ago I helped deliver twins in an emergency C-section situation. The babies were way early, way small and unfortunately they had to be delivered right away... "Stat", on steroids.

This scene is absolutely chaotic. Or rather sort of an organized chaos. At one point I counted 16 people in the room with various roles and responsibilities. There is the scrub team which includes a surgeon, an assistant, and a surgical tech. There is a respiratory support team for each of the twins. There is an anesthesia team which includes a physician and a nurse anesthetist. Then there is the pediatric and neonatal resuscitation team from pediatrics and neonatal intensive care. Then there is a charge nurse for the operating room and patient care assistants to assist all of the team members.

It truly begins as a rather chaotic scene with all the members of the team scurrying around the room preparing for the delivery. But once the timeout is complete and the scalpel hits the skin it is truly poetry in motion. I don't believe there is any more skilled team in healthcare today then those that deal with high-risk births. It is truly a pleasure and a blessing to be a small part of the effort.