Scissors

Like every nurse I have a pair of scissors. When I worked on the wards they were small and curved and had a little foot to go under bandages - some bugger stole them out of my locker (they also stole my toothpaste, but as it had fallen down the toilet and I had no idea why I still kept it I didn't mind that). When I moved into A&E I obtained a pair of Tuffcuts. I have had a few over the years, I even bought a pair of left-handed ones to see if they were better (they weren't, not their fault, after years of using right handed scissors I could not make the adjustment) and anyway Tuffcuts are left or right hand friendly.
Why am I telling you this? Well over the years I have cut many things - shirts, jackets, trousers,pants, bra's and they are superb at cutting leather boots. I tell the story that they will cut anything and I once saw a doctor open someones chest using them - they had nothing else at that point and the patient would have died otherwise. Today though I excelled myself, today I was cutting someones shirt off and managed to cut through the ECG leads. Think of every time you have ever felt shame and multiply it by 100, I am embarrassed as I type this. The sound of the monitor alarming and then the sudden realisation what you have done and then the comments from colleagues.