October 17, 2012 - Write 4 Ten - In the Ambulance

 

This entry is a “Write 4 Ten” story, in which one writes for ten minutes on a given prompt.  Want to try it for yourself?  Click on the little lady up there to visit Donna B. McNicol’s site.

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In August of this year, I experienced my first ambulance ride.  Although I was conscious and the situation was not immediately life-threatening, it did necessitate the calling for an ambulance and EMTs.

Looking back, some aspects were funny.  Well, at least to me with my somewhat “dark” sense of humor.  Ever look at the TV show “Emergency” or “ER”?  The ambulance staff is supposed to alert the hospital that they are in their way in with a patient.

These guys did not have the emergency room phone number of the hospital.  At least one did not have their cell phone with them.

So here’s where my inner strength persona Sarah Conner of the Terminator films kicks in.  “I have the hospital main number programmed on my cell phone.  You can call it and get routed to the emergency room.”

Sheesh!  Here I am the patient, for goodness sakes, and I’m providing resources for the ambulance staff!

Talk about being one’s own advocate in a healthcare situation.

Seems like one of them might have been fairly new or in training, as he appeared a bit unfamiliar with the operation of the stretcher.  All I could think about was “I sure hope they don’t drop me” when sliding the stretcher out of the ambulance and lowering the stretcher legs.  It looked like a bit of a drop to the ground from my viewpoint and I could just see a broken arm or ankle on top of my other medical issues.

I will say that they were professional, friendly and compassionate.  The three-man crew got me to the hospital where I needed to be, safe and sound and expeditiously with no incidents. 

Thanks to the staff of our local rescue crew for an interesting experience, albeit one I hope not to repeat for a long, long, long time.