Be prepared

You heard it here first! Instead of being worried about having clean underwear in case you get hit by a bus and have to be taken to hospital in an ambulance (well, you may not be worried about that, but our parent’s generation certainly were), you should be worried about having a clean belly button in case you need emergency surgery. That’s the official word – well, as interpreted by the senior surgical registrar I worked with yesterday. Of course, by the time you get to theatre, your dirty underpants will be long gone, but it’s unlikely that you’ll be being looked after by a nurse with the time or dedication to really work that ingrained gunge out of your umbilicus. Just something to think about, folks!