Mascot Skate /  by Justin Merriman

 McGruff the Crime Dog takes to the ice at the 27th annual Citiparks “Mascot Skate” at Schenley Rink in Oakland  on Saturday afternoon, January 11, 2014.
Grace Greeno, 10, of Oakland skates with a mascot at the “Mascot Skate.”

Lego Competition /  by Justin Merriman

John Mack, 11, of Butler, right, reacts as he watches his team's Lego robot compete in the Lego League Regional Major Competition at Pittsburgh Science & Technology Academy in Oakland on Saturday afternoon, January 11, 2014.

Working in the Barn /  by Justin Merriman

Marsha Connolly, 61, of Robinson, left, and Gordon Garrett, 17, of Wexford, right, volunteer making bamboo fencing at the Pittsburgh Botanic Garden in Oakdale on Saturday afternoon, January 11, 2014.

Frozen Pittsburgh /  by Justin Merriman

A barge moves through the frigid waters the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers form the Ohio River near Downtown, Pittsburgh on Tuesday, January 7, 2014.

Cheetah Checkup /  by Justin Merriman

Dr. Ginger Sturgeon, Director of Animal Health at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium, (second from left) along with her team perform an examination on one of the zoo's new cheetahs on Tuesday, January 7, 2014.  The exams are being done on all four of the cheetahs that have come from a ranch in South Africa.

Cigar Room /  by Justin Merriman

Mark Rogers, 25, of Mt. Nebo, left, and Andrew Cangey, 24, also of Mt. Nebo, right, enjoy cigars in the cigar bar at Latitude 40 in Robinson on Saturday, January 4, 2014.

The Night Shift /  by Justin Merriman

Allegheny General Hospital's Angela Kost, left, a registered nurse, takes a call about a patient as she discusses the situation with Dr. Alex Britt, center, and Dr. Steve Perry, right, in the hospital's emergency department on Friday night, December 6, 2013.
 Jaime Bednarz, a registered nurse, at Allegheny General Hospital holds a patients hand while he's examined for chest pains.
 Dr. Jennifer Nelson prepares for the arrival of trauma patient, an 85-year-old woman who fell and is suffering from internal bleeding.
 Surgical tools sits in a pan after being used on a trauma patient in the emergency department.
 Dr. Jennifer Nelson, left, looks over a chest tube that she placed in an 85-year-old trauma patient.
Diana Novakovic, an advanced life support technician, works in the emergency room as a patient is treated.
The aftermath of a trauma room in Allegheny General Hospital's emergency department.  

On a winter night, the streets stretch empty and white from falling snow outside Allegheny General Hospital in the North Side. Few people inside the hospital’s emergency department notice the weather, or the time. A shift change from day to night happens seamlessly. A center office area is the hub of activity for the North Team Station, manned by doctors and nurses who fill the moments between trauma calls with computer and phone work. Even on the quietest of nights, they have work to do. As evening turns to morning, rooms fill and empty with patients: transfers from other hospitals, several people who fell, a homeless man with chest pains, and even a young man hurt while riding a bull. The most seriously injured person arrives around 4 a.m. — a woman, 85, whose lung collapsed when she fell. Blood is filling her chest. Doctors, nurses and other staffers in blue gowns and caps crowd into her room, white masks covering their mouths and noses so that only their eyes reveal the intensity of their work. They huddle beneath a glaringly bright overhead light, each practicing a craft, moving fluidly, with a singular goal of saving her life. 
On this night, they succeed.

Raindrops /  by Justin Merriman

Greg Garten, 52, and Eileen Watson, 52, both of Shadyside walk along a rainy Butler Street in Lawrenceville on Saturday, December 21, 2013.