I felt my heart skip a beat as I took off my lead gown, preparing to put in my post-operative orders. A transient wave of apprehension, and I daresay fear swept past me that very moment. It has been a good 8 years since I've graduated medical school, with nary an exposure to emergency medicine since my intern days. I wasn't sure I could remember how to read an EKG accurately, much less manage a patient in respiratory failure.