The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. This show came out when I was in fifth grade. At that point in my life, I was supposed to transition from childish shows to more sophisticated television, like… Beverly Hills 90210. I felt like I shouldn’t be watching the Power Rangers but was drawn to the over the top moral themes and fake fight scenes. Plus, they had giant robots fighting monsters!! I was ashamed. This is something I should not have been indulging in at such a "mature" age, but I couldn’t help turning to channel 11 at 5pm to watch. Recently, I was talking to my friend Manny about his experiences in the ED during Halloween, and I couldn’t stop laughing as he told me the following story:

“So dude, I remember my first Halloween as an intern. It was the craziest thing. We had the usual chaos, but the wild card on that day was that some people were in costumes and makeup. For others it was just another day in the ER. I couldn’t tell who was sick and injured and who was just rocking their latest Halloween garb. It also seemed like every patient on the board was hammered, which added some pep to the department.

As I walked through the front of the ER, I noticed the nurse triaging a patient who was being restrained by paramedics. The gurney was as low to the ground as you could get it. And the corner of my eye catches a rhythmic movement. A red blob moving around endlessly. I looked down and the patient was dressed as the RED RANGER from the Power Rangers!!! The Red Ranger wasn’t in the best of moods. Instead of the Tyrannosaurus Rex helmet the Red Ranger should have been wearing, he was sporting the honorary spit mask.”

In case you aren’t sure what the spit mask is, it is a mask for patients who spit at staff. Yes, that happens. So much so we have a mask just for it. It looks like the hoods beekeepers wear, and is reserved only for the most unruly. It’s not held in as high esteem as the Red Ranger helmet. Take your time and visualize this. The RED POWER RANGER, the moral compass and do-gooder of the Power Ranger team, restrained on a gurney wearing a spit mask. He’s writhing around not realizing he can’t win this fight against the restraints.

Manny continues,

“I stopped in my tracks. Completely amazed, my mouth wide open, I could not comprehend what I had just seen. I look around and watch the other staff as they walk by this scene. A sea of nurses and doctors going about their shift as if it were a regular Monday night. Meanwhile, as my little intern mind takes a few minutes to adjust, the Red Ranger keeps on writhing away rhythmically in a futile attempt to get free of his hard restraints. The show goes on. That's when I knew emergency residency was going to be a fun ride and this hospital was a special place. I drop my stuff in the doc box, sign up for my first patient. Game on.”