Imagine this: A 17-year-old girl has been shot in an apparent mall robbery. Her parents rush to the hospital only to be told they cannot see their daughter yet—the medical team is actively working to save her life. The unknown is terrifying, the waiting torturous.
When they are finally allowed to enter the trauma center to see their daughter, they see 10–15 professionals, all gowned and gloved with masks on their faces, surrounding their daughter, each attending to a different task such as starting an IV, monitoring her vital signs, preparing to take bedside X-rays. Her parents just want to know if will she be OK. But this is exactly the information the treatment team is not able to provide, at least not yet.
