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Abstract
This poem was written after reflecting on time spent working in hospitals and medical environments both stateside and while deployed. In these spaces, alarms are constant—bells, monitors, and vibrating alerts competing for attention. Over time, the noise becomes familiar, and clinicians often struggle with what is known as alarm fatigue, where the urgency of each signal begins to dull. In that quiet realization, I found myself asking a simple question: who are these alarms for? The poem explores that moment of awareness and the effort to reconnect the sound of the bell with the life behind it.
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Recommended Citation
Liz, C. (2026). For whom the bell tolls. Quill & Scope, 18 (1). Retrieved from https://touroscholar.touro.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1331&context=quill_and_scope