[Verse 1]
Six hours ticking, the big kids breathe alone,
Tube slides out fast-track, lungs find their own tone,
But drop to the nursery, the story turns slow,
Open sternum, chest flaps wide, nowhere to go,
Seventy-two hours the ribs stay unlatched,
Complex repair, infant heart freshly patched,
Ventilator humming like a lullaby machine,
Swelling needs room before the skin can convene.
[Chorus]
Check the PULSE in the first forty-eight,
Pressure, Urine, Lactate — don't hesitate,
Saturation sinking, NIRS gonna say,
Echo's the eye that won't look away,
PULSE keeps you honest when the numbers sway.
[Verse 2]
Arterial line sings the beat beat by beat,
Central line whispers the volume's retreat,
Lactate climbing says the tissues are starving,
One mil per kilo of urine, keep marking,
NIRS throws light through the skull and the flank,
Cerebral, renal saturation, read the tank,
Serial echoes scan the conduit's new seam,
Watching gradients rise like steam off a stream.
[Verse 3]
Milrinone, epinephrine, taper as output clears,
Low cardiac state resolving, wean away the fears,
Pacing wires linger, the rhythm's still shy,
Keep them coiled till the sinus says goodbye,
Chest tubes drain the pleura, count the bloody ounce,
Under one or two mils per kilo, that's when they bounce,
Central lines pulled early, infection's a thief,
Fewer days in the vein brings the sepsis relief.
[Verse 4]
Temperature curve tells its own quiet tale,
Fever spikes whisper of a hidden trail,
Nutrition climbing, calories find their place,
Feeding tube patience, trophic feeds set the pace,
Renal function charted, creatinine's slow rise,
Dialysis waiting in the wings if it tries,
Neuro checks gentle, pupils equal and round,
Every reflex tested, every whisper of sound,
The team at the bedside reading charts like scripture,
Building the story, line by careful fixture.
[Bridge]
Glucose steady, potassium in line,
Hemoglobin counted, coagulation fine,
Chest film whispers pneumothorax or effusion,
Diaphragm riding high — phrenic nerve confusion,
Every tube, every drip, every blip on the screen,
Forty-eight hours writing what recovery means.
[Chorus]
Check the PULSE in the first forty-eight,
Pressure, Urine, Lactate — don't hesitate,
Saturation sinking, NIRS gonna say,
Echo's the eye that won't look away,
PULSE keeps you honest when the numbers sway.
[Outro]
Forty-eight hours, the conduit's new creed,
Wean the wires, trust the numbers you read,
Pulse never lies when the heart's on parole,
Watch close, read true — that's the ICU role.
[Chorus]
Check the PULSE in the first forty-eight,
Pressure, Urine, Lactate — don't hesitate,
Saturation sinking, NIRS gonna say,
Echo's the eye that won't look away,
PULSE keeps you honest when the numbers sway,
PULSE keeps you honest, come what may.