Encounter on Aisle 9 with Mike Abernethy
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Who is Dr. Mike Abernethy and what is his background in emergency and flight medicine?
I'm Emily Silverman. Today's episode features a very special guest, Dr. Mike Abernathy. Mike is a clinical professor of emergency medicine at the University of Wisconsin, helicopter flight physician, and former naval engineer, EMT, and military officer. I first met Mike when he submitted a story for our live show in San Francisco in June of 2022. Our team was immediately struck by Mike's innate storytelling talent and invited him to come to the Bay to perform on stage. And it was a really amazing experience to watch the story come to life for a live audience. A few months after the performance, Mike and I sat down to talk about his work as a helicopter flight physician, the concept of pre-hospital care, and the differences between the United States and Europe and how they approach this really important part of medicine.
I came away from the conversation feeling like humanity is safer because Mike exists. And I hope you enjoy his story and our conversation as much as I did. Before our chat, take a listen to Mike's amazing performance on the nocturnal stage. Here's Mike.
It's January 2021. I'm working in a busy emergency department, small community hospital in Beloit, Wisconsin. We just got pummeled by a midwinter snowstorm. And I tell you, we're busy enough between overcrowding, understaffing, and now we have COVID. I'm seeing a lot of sick COVID patients. But the thing that's really hitting us is the fact that because of the pandemic, they have shut down all the primary care clinics. And as the safety net for the healthcare system, we see everyone who comes. Now, I'm the guy you want to see if you've been in a horrendous farming accident in the middle of nowhere, if you're bleeding out from an abdominal aortic aneurysm, or if you need flown across the state while on ECMO in a helicopter.
But I'm not cut out for primary care. God bless him. So the night goes on. We have a couple motor vehicle accidents, just fender benders, a couple ice-related falls, and as things progress, we get into the real meat, the real bread and butter of emergency medicine, a seemingly unending parade of chronic abdominal pain, snotty kids with fevers, urinary complaints, and diarrhea. I'm sitting at my desk, I'm staring at the clock on the wall, and it's not moving. I'm getting too old for this shit. I put my head down, I fantasize about just quitting and retiring early. The problem is, I am chronically exhausted, and that makes everything a hundred times worse. It's not like I don't try to sleep. I set aside time, I set aside a place, but my mind just doesn't shut off.
My wife describes it best. She tells me, you don't sleep, you wait. So morning comes, and with it, my relief. Jessica is bright-eyed and smiling. I apologize for the dismal state of the emergency department. I make a sincere effort. I said, I'll hang around and help you clean things up. She just sort of crosses her arms, eyes me up and down, says, Mike, you look like dog shit. Go home, go to sleep. Yeah, if it were that easy. I go to the locker room, I put on my old coveralls, put on my army jacket, and I walk out to my truck, and the wind is howling. It is cold. And I just sit there for a minute trying to decompress while the truck's warming up. And I must have nodded off because I'm awoke by this buzzing noise, and I'm fishing through my pockets.
It's a text from my wife. She wants me to stop by Walmart on the way home. It's like, oh, God, I don't want to go to Walmart, but what am I going to do, go home and go to sleep? So I pull into Walmart, and remember, this is Walmart, 7.30 in the morning, Sunday, Beloit, Wisconsin, and the place is hopping.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:35
2
Who is Dr. Mike Abernethy and what is his background in emergency and flight medicine?
0:35–25:31
3
What was the chaotic Walmart encounter that felt like seeing a ghost?
25:31–39:16
4
How did the 1999 pediatric neck‑laceration case unfold in the emergency department?
39:16–46:37