Ophthalmology call is an amazing and humbling experience. Even as a 1st year resident, arriving at a call almost always means that you are the most experienced and senior ophthalmologist in the hospital!
You will have unlimited time to perform your evaluation, see primary presentations of ophthalmic conditions, and earn unparalleled gratitude from your patients.
These are the supplies you need in your call bag to be prepared to handle anything, anywhere. You can find almost all of these supplies in clinic, just stuff them into your call bag when no one is looking!
The Call Bag
Here are a few call bags that our residents carry, ranging from an extra small size which is lightweight and elegant, to a carry-everything size that fits large 15” laptops.
 | Lightweight and elegant Timbuk2 Classic Messenger X-Small
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 | Small and stylish Timbuk2 Command Laptop Messenger Bag Small
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 | Holds everything you may need Timbuk2 Command Laptop Messenger Bag Medium
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How to organize the call bag
Use the internal organizers to hold your qtips, alcohol wipes, tonopen covers, etc. Use the main compartment of the bag to carry drops and larger items. Ziplock bags are key for drops, as I’ve had many a bottle leak due to user error. I like to have one bag for dilation drops, another bag for IOP drops, and a final bag for miscellaneous drops. I try to use the bag’s internal organizers to keep everything accessible.
The essential supplies
Consumables | |
| Item | Why do I need this? |
| Qtips | Hold open eyelids, probe / debride abscesses, remove filamentary keratopathy from the cornea, sweep fornices for foreign bodies |
| Gauze (2×2 or 4×4) or eye patches | To dry things that are wet |
| Fluorescein bottle / strips | Assess corneal abrasions / ulcers |
| Bandage contact lens | Fantastic for treating pain from corneal abrasions, but never on a corneal ulcer! |
| Alcohol swabs | Cleaning the slit lamp and your instruments (depressor) |
| Lid Speculum (adult sized) | Holding open eyes when you need to do intravitreal injections |
| Lacrimal Cannula (27 gauge) | Assessing canalicular lacerations by irrigation |
| Needles (18 gauge, 25 gauge, 30 gauge) | 18 gauge – drawing up lidocaine 25 gauge – 27 gauge – removal of metal corneal foreign bodies 30 gauge ½ inch – intravitreal injections (these are helpful to have, as they are not a common size found in the emergency room) |
| Syringes (3 to 6 mL) | Lidocaine injections |
| BSS / Eye irrigation | For irrigating foreign bodies, and for removing eye ointment |
| Tonopen covers | The ED always runs out! Have some of your own for those times |
Medications | |
| Item | Why do I need this? |
| Proparacaine | Topical anesthetic |
| Phenylephrine | Dilation |
| Phenylephrine 10% | For poor dilators (very dark irises) |
| Tropicamide | Dilation |
| Atropine | For preop use |
| Latanoprost (or another prostaglandin) | Make sure to have your 3 classes of glaucoma drops for high IOP calls |
| Cosopt or Combigan (or another combo beta blocker) | Make sure to have your 3 classes of glaucoma drops for high IOP calls |
| Brimonidine or Dorzolamide (or another alpha agonist) | Make sure to have your 3 classes of glaucoma drops for high IOP calls |
| Betadine | To clean the eye for procedures / injections |
| Ciloxan (or another antibiotic drop) | Apply a drop after you take out a suture! |
Tools | |
| Item | Why do I need this? |
| Indirect ophthalmoscope | Essential for the dilated exam |
| Portable slit lamp | Essential for the anterior segment exam |
| Depressor | Used to examine the anterior retina. Alternatively, you can use a Qtip |
| Jewelers | For taking out sutures and small corneal foreign bodies |
| Rat tooth (microtooth) forceps x 2 | To perform forced ductions and and other maneuvers to rule out muscle entrapment |
| Near Card | Essential for checking vision |
| Occluder | Patients often forget their glasses, having a pinhole occluder helps you assess their visual potential |
| Demarres retractor | For trauma patients with swollen eyelids |
| Tonopen (or other tonometer) | Usually found in the emergency room |
| Penlight | Checking pupils. You can also use the flashlight on your phone |
| +2.50 readers | For checking vision in presbyopic patients |
| Toothbrush and toothpaste | For nice breath, if only all your patients would do the same… |
Essential Smartphone Apps | |
| Item | Why do I need this? |
| Wills Eye Manual | The essential resource for all of your call needs, the electronic version works very well also |
| Eye Handbook App (Free) | Isihara color plates, OKN drum |
Hi, love this site and I instruct all of my residents to read it. I seem to remember that you used to have a section on the most common ophthalmic emergencies that a resident was most likely to encounter when on call and how to manage them. I can’t seem to find it any longer. Does it still exist?
Hi eyegeek, thanks so much for your support! I think this is the article you’re looking for:
https://eyeguru.org/blog/top-10-emergencies/
I just love your articles, keep doing this great work!