Another Live update: 1546. The councilor who put forth the medical marijuana amendment just called the pain medicine/patient satisfaction score resolution “half-baked.” Seriously. Push-ups, anyone?

Wow, there was a ton of debate about pain medication prescribing and the relation to patient satisfaction scores. That is certainly a hot topic, as more people die from prescription medication overdose than in car accidents nowadays.

I’ve had plenty of people who have said I am not compassionate because I don’t judiciously write for narcotics. I resent that insinuation. Being compassionate has nothing to do with giving people whatever they want. If someone is in pain, I will treat them. If this is your third visit to the ED that day, and I can see that you got narcs from the other ED, then, NO, I’m not going to write you a script so you can end up as an overdose 12 hours later.

Live update: 1624. Since people wanted to keep going and keep us ahead of schedule, Council Speaker Dr. Marco Coppola has asked for a leg bag instead of a bathroom break.

Once discussion and voting of the resolutions are complete, the Council moves onto the election process. The Council will elect a President-Elect and members of the Board of Directors.

I know, I know. Despite my commentary, all this STILL might sound a little boring. But members of the Council are discussing real issues that we deal with every single day in the ED. Council discussed everything from narcotic prescriptions to the ramifications of the Affordable Care Act to psychiatric patient boarding in the ED to EMR conversion.

Each time I attend Council, I discover that many of the frustrations I have on shift in my little corner of the world, other people have in their little corners. I learn how they deal with their issues, and, I don’t feel so alone in my fight. I can see that others are fighting the good fight with me.

Change is afoot, my dear EPs, and if you just show up for work and go home, you will be left behind. Now is the time to get involved, whether it’s with ACEP or a committee at your hospital, you need to ensure your seat at the table. If you don’t show up, they’ll just serve you up something that you didn’t order and certainly didn’t want.

Dr. Lisa Bundy wrote this column while sitting in the Council meeting. She is an attending physician at ERMed, LLC, in Montgomery, Ala., and a former photojournalist, who not only sings in the car, but talks to herself, is addicted to diet drinks and shoes, and thinks emergency medicine is the greatest specialty.