I made a reel last week about the realities of running short-staffed in radiology and how dangerous it actually is. Over 150K views, 355 people commented on it. That alone tells you everything.

We all know healthcare is short-staffed. We all know it's dangerous. But I don't think enough people understand how it impacts each department individually. So let me paint you a picture.

A patient comes into the ER. Let's call him Larry.
Little bit of back pain, flank area, slightly hypertensive, but he waves it off and says that's normal for him. Low acuity. No major red flags.

I'm working CT that day by myself. Doctor orders a CT chest, abdomen, pelvis with contrast. I get Larry on the table, scan starts, contrast is moving through, and then somebody walks into my department and says "we have a code stroke."

Nobody paged me. It happens. But now I'm the only one here, so I turn for a moment to figure out how to manage this. By the time I look back, my scan on Larry is done. I get him off the table. Someone takes him back to his room. Twenty minutes later, they call a code blue on Larry. He had a dissection.

Something I could have caught. Something I would have caught if I'd had the time to roll through that scan before the next emergency landed in my lap.

It is not technically my job to read and interpret images. But it is morally and ethically right for me to take two minutes, roll through a scan, and flag anything obvious to the ER doctor or the radiologist. Because as Larry is coding, I am getting a phone call asking why I didn't call about the dissection. That is the reality.

I partly agree.

But I also think the biggest thing that is going to change this is us using our voice. Keep talking about it.

If you can't use a platform, use your voice at work. Write it down after your shift. Voice note yourself so you have documentation that you did the best you could with what you were given.

And remember, one patient at a time. I know how hard that is when you're in the middle of it. But your safety and your license have to come first. Especially when you have painted the picture, asked for help, and been ignored. You have to put yourself first.

Too often we fall into the trap of believing that one single person is responsible for everything. That is so far from the truth.

Keep talking about it. Keep standing up for what you know is right. Keep using your community and your resources. There are people out there who genuinely want to make healthcare better and are actually doing something about it.