2/2/07 sad anaversary

Discussion in 'Blogs' started by monkeyman, Feb 3, 2007.


  1. monkeyman

    monkeyman Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    Today was spent just running a few errands. It is however a significant date for us.

    Two years ago on this date my best friend who had been in the hospitol due to fluid build up was to be released to come home (he lived with us) and was supposed to be fine and ready to just come home and take some meds and be ok or as ok as he had been for some time. He had a lot of health problems, being about 500 pounds and unable to do much about it due to ostioarthritise and COPD (breathing problems) just to name a few, so he was on O2 and in a large motorized wheel chair. I went to pick him up and they released him, we went straight from his room to my truck and while he was trying to transfer from his chair to my truck he flatlined.

    We were at most 50' from the life flight pad of the hospitol and about 100 yards from their ER doors. I caught a passerby and sent them in for help and called 911 from a cell phone with no service (can still call 911 but nothing else) and all they were interested in was a phone number to call me back at. I told them several times where we were and what was wrong then since they couldnt ask for or offer any info other than my phone number I repeated the situation and where we were then tossed the phone and went back to tending to my friend as best I could. I had not ever had a CPR class and had never thought to ask what would be different for his situation (lungs hardened, will they tear in that case with full breaths? osteoperoses and 500 pounds, will it shove ribs through lungs if do full compressions or do I dod them harder due to size? etc.) so, since we were RIGHT AT the ER I figured that the best idea was to wait for trainedprofesionals whosurely couldnt take more than a coupleof minutes to arrive. I made sure to get him into a position where positional asphixiation would not be a problem and tried to keep his O2 going to try to at least try to keep it in his lungs in hopes if nothing else that his lungs would be oxegenated when help would arive to start working on him.

    Thinking that help would come and that waiting for them was the best thing I could do proved to be wrong and burned any chance he had. The ambulance that came had been parked about 100 yards away at the ER door and along with them was a security car with hospital staff and a fire truck within seconds after them that had to come through down town KC from a mile or 2 away and while I seriously thought untill I later spoke with witnesses that my perception of time had been distorted by the emergency, IT TOOK THEM OVER 30 MINUTES TO ARRIVE!

    I learned the hard way from that, or at least had it totaly confirmed and enforced in me, to NEVER count on help to arive in time to do any good in ANY emergency ANY PLACE for ANY reason. I learned to be as prepared as I can and learn what I can and if it needs to be done then while you can call for help and see if they get there to help or clean up the mess or whatever, do what needs to be done as best as you can on your own and just assume that the help wont come. Inaction in an emergency is often more dangerous than even the wrong actions and if it is life and death at that point then waiting only guarantees death while action, even if your not sure if its the right action, is at least a toss of the dice that gives you or the victim a chance.
     
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