Started out like any other day. Mom was watching her "shows" happy
as you please. In less than 30 minutes everything changed. She said
her head hurt, her neck, her chest etc. I took her BP and it was
sky high even for her. I feared a stroke might be imminent. I asked
her questions, she was able to answer. Her pain level was 4 out of 5.
I tried to call the ambulance.. I said I TRIED!! UGHhhhhh. The number we
had as a paid member..went directly to a machine.. HUH WHAT ????
So I called 911. That went through to the police dept here in town.
They sent an officer. He came to assess her and then he relayed it
They sent an officer. He came to assess her and then he relayed it
to the ambulance. They spoke to me and I told them specific details.
The first ambulance showed up as a man on standby duty came in
and checked her over. He told me another was on the way. HUH???
The second ambulance was over 5 minutes away. While the first
attendant took her vitals and assesed her more, I asked WHY
THE SECOND WAS CALLED. Welll
The second was coming because they were the REAL PARAMEDICS, and
were the only ambulance available in case of transport. OH…
The policemen told me that it had been a very "Unusally busy day" and that
ALL ambulance calls go through 911 now..no exceptions. Our local police dept
office will be moved soon to another town and the calls will be
dispatched from there to here. COMPLICATED!! YOU BET!
CONSOLIDATION is what he called it.
ANYWAY.. after the second team arrived Mom could care less. She was
not fighting the thought of going to any hospital at all. I knew if she
was that way, she was in pain and wanted it GONE! So they packed her
up and got her off to the hosp. I sat in the front with the guy and good
thing I did. He had NO IDEA how to GET TO THE FREEWAY FROM OUR
HOUSE!! The other lady attendant was with Mom and could not have
HOUSE!! The other lady attendant was with Mom and could not have
helped him much back there. It took both of them to establish an
IV after poking her twice. OUCH.,( She is black and blue on both
arms today, from many attempts at taking blood and
such.) I guided the driver to the freeway and off we went.
He drove the whole way on the passing lane without lights but
going only 65-70. Cars were passing us on the right hand lane!
YIKES where is the law when you need them? Our car
was fine the brakes held good, but we still are going to have
them checked soon.
The DOCTOR was right, way to go through the ambulance..
because when my SIS and I got to admit.. the ER was FULL.
I mean at least 20 people or more sitting there to be assessed,
around 5 P.M.
The lady behind the glass looked wore out. She said it had
been a "madhouse all day long." What the heck?? I said
are they "FLU RELATED"? . She said they weren’t. They
proceeded to poke, prod and test mom for the next
5 hours and come to the conclusion that she had an
infection and needed antibiotics. OKAY .. they needed
to do the HEAD CT because …… she had head pain..
okay and why the chest X RAY?? It went on and on
and mom was wore out. Everyone was doing their
jobs and being overly cautious about GERMS. EVERY
single person either wore gloves or used the anti-GEL
dispensers. Several nurses told me that this was so
weird because they had been so over busy the whole day long.
THEY WERE NOT KEEPING ANYONE IN WHO WASN’T
"EXTREMELY ILL". I knew we were going to take
mom back home then. Around 10 pm SIS and I
wheeled her out of the ER. NO help.. they were
still busy. When we came through the ER..waiting area
still at least 12 people sitting there. Mom was mortified
because she didnt know people would be seeing her
in her "condition" being wheeled out.
It was 50 degrees and she was not dressed
for it. I gave her my coat and we cranked up
the heat.
I learned a few things about our "system" here in
town. I learned that if you are in dire need of
an ambulance to get you someplace in a hurry
you are out of luck. There will most likely
be quite a wait for it to even get here. Small towns
just are in bad shape for services now. Our Police Station
will be CLOSED SOON. There will be someone watching
the office via cameras and talking to people over phones
connected to another city. Officers will be dispatched from
their homes. WOW.. it was a real eye opener.
Follow up appt for mom tomorrow if we can get worked
in to her regular doctor. She is too "tired" to go today and
it is raining here…Hard! Says she feels a lot better though.
Well that was most of our day yesterday… I did forget the
part where she ate a blueberry muffin I baked and said
"YOUR MUFFIN MADE ME SICK".. YEAh right Mom! 
HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT DAY!!
