How do I stop replaying the emergency calls that went wrong?

You make the fast calls now, but the ones that went wrong replay in you long after the shift ends. That echo is the mark of someone who cares about the lives in their hands. It's also a weight that can wear you down if you carry it wrong. Both things are true, and you deserve honesty about both. Here's a hard but freeing truth: a decision made well can still end badly. In the ER you act on partial information in seconds, and sometimes the outcome turns against the best possible call. Replaying it as if you should have known the unknowable isn't justice; it's self-punishment. Judge the decision by what you knew in that moment, not by what only became clear afterward. Learn what's learnable, and release the rest. When a case loops in your mind, do something deliberate with it. Ask, once, given what I knew then, was that reasonable? If yes, that's your answer, even if the ending was bad. If there's a real lesson, take it, then set the case down. And don't carry these alone; talk to the people who've stood where you stand. The replay eases when it's shared.