“We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he today that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’ar so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here
And hold their manhoods cheap while any speaks
That fought with us upon
Saint Crispen’s Day.”
-
William Shakespear’s “HENRY V”
In Shakespear’s “HENRY V”, just before the Battle of
Agincourt (1415), King Henry’s remaining army, weaken and nearly decimated by
battle and dysentery, is trapped by an overwhelming French Army that has blocked
the only escape route to England. The French knights were heavily armoured and highly
skilled, the defeat of the English Army was theirs. It was at this lowest point
that King Henry V gave a speech to the remaining men that is now ever known as
the St. Crispen’s Day speech. The final lines have become better known as “The
Band of Brothers” speech. King Henry’s V speech rallied the English Army to
victory!
You are a “band of brothers and sisters” just as much as
those men were centuries ago. Like them, united, you face a formidable foe, one
that appears overwhelming and where victory is uncertain. That foe is the on-going
transformation of health care with all its associated change and uncertainty.
There will be other foes as well, unknown now but sure to come.
The safety and well-being of our patients have never been more
important or challenging than they are today. Patients are older, sicker, more
complicated yet technology has advanced to the point that there is much more
that can be done for them. The sacrifices required of you as well have never
been greater - the long hours, night calls, emergency surgeries, the critically
ill patient, the dying patient, the demanding families, the never- ending
administrative/EMR expectations….It would be so easy to become overwhelmed and
simply give up just as it would have been for those soldiers at Agincourt. Yet,
you continue to make a difference in the lives of others; you are living a life
that counts! Isn’t that how we all want to be remembered – that we lived just
such a life, while too many others will “… think themselves “accurs’d“, that
they cannot say the same?
Thank you as always for what you
do!
Andy Lamb, MD
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