What's your emergency?
15/8/09 22:49![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mackinzieNow I know what it's like to call 911.
My sister and I went to a department store to go school shopping for my nephew and see what else they had. I found a fab dress too. It was 101 degrees outside and for some reason the people at the store thought a toasty 90 degrees in their dressing rooms would be great for their paying customers. Really up the comfort level.
Anyway, so we get finished and start to head toward the front. It was full swing Saturday, everyone trying to get a deal for school so there were long lines at every checkout. My sister told me to go get the car and drive it to the front so it'll be cool by the time she got done checking out.
So I go with my nephew to pick up the car and drive it around a few times before pulling into a spot so I won't use up the rest of the gas, which is nearly empty anyway.
It's taking awhile but I figured there's a long line. Suddenly my sister calls me and tells me to come in because she feels like she's going to pass out. I turn off the car and run with my nephew back into the store.
I find my sister sitting on the ground. People are staring. The store clerks and staff are looking around at me and my sister with this edgy look like gazelles around a hungry lion.
I ask my sister if she wants me to call her husband, or her mom. I ask this a few times, not getting any real answer.
Instead, my sister tells me to call 911. By then I'm more than a little freaking out. I have to ask her twice to be sure that's what she wanted. So I call, and the phone doesn't seem to want to work. It seems to want me to be sure that's what I want to do. Hell yes that's what I want to do, Palm Pre, just let me make my damn phone call.
So this guy answers and I tell him what's going on: my sister cannot feel her hands and the left side of her face is numb. She's also sweating profusely and feels like she's going to throw up and/or pass out. I get the address from the store manager and tell the guy.
He connects me to the ambulance person. I repeat the story. She asks for the address...which I'm a little too focused on staring at my sister to remember what the store lady just told me. I find that the 911 guy is still on the phone and takes over in telling me. They say someone's on their way and they hang up.
They hang up. By then I'm wondering...okay what if she has a heart attack and dies? You hang up? What the hell? This is nothing like on TV where they stay on the line until someone gets there.
The store manager starts to bring my sister a glass of water and a cold towel but the ambulance guy told me not to give her anything to eat or drink so I told them not to give her the water. I do put the cold towel on her head though.
My nephew, who's 11, is utterly confused so he's rather calm about it all. That's good. I'm trying to be calm too so he doesn't get upset that the ambulance is going to come put his mom in a gurney (or so I think).
After hanging up my sister tells me to call her husband, which I do. The phone takes for-freaking-ever to pick up. Finally he answers. I reiterate what I've told two other people and so he says he'll be on his way.
And now, we wait. And wait. And wait some more. People are gawking. Some customers stand near us and just stare. Get a move on, thanks. It takes about 10 minutes for the ambulance to get there. One of the store clerks has to tell me, because I can't hear the sirens. I'm really kind of pissed right about then. What if she was having a heart attack? What if she was dying? It's ridiculous.
In retrospect I know it was probably traffic and my being impatient due to the situation and what not but that's stupid.
Anyway, they get here and I move my nephew, who's been sitting beside my sister, out of the way and have him stand by me. They start to check blood pressure, ask questions, etc. My brother in law calls me and tells me he's halfway there.
My sister starts to feel better so she tells them she's going to have her husband take her to the hospital. They have her fill out some paperwork. Surprisingly there's no bill for them to come out.
Soon after, my sister asks me to pull the car around and I'm like 'oh-kay' and so I do and sit in there until my brother in law shows up. "Are you in the store?" he says. "No, are you the green car coming toward us?" By luck he is.
He talks to my sister. My sister wants to go home, so we do. I get to drive, not forgetting the car's almost out of gas.
I try to keep up with my brother in law, who's a tiny green SUV dot in front of me while I'm going the speed limit and keeping an eye on the gas gage. Finally we get there, though, and I'm close to kissing the car thanks.
My sister thinks her potassium, the stuff that keeps your muscles moving and your heart pumping, has bottomed out so she eats a banana and drinks OJ and takes two potassium pills. She'd had this happen before and it made her faint. They agree if she gets worse again they were going to the hospital.
But over time she gets better, practically back to normal, and we watch movies. Then I go home.
All and all it was a big scare but everything worked out. I'm so glad she's okay. Of course I get to tell this story again to my mom and dad, whom already know as she told them but they want all the details anyway.
My sister and I went to a department store to go school shopping for my nephew and see what else they had. I found a fab dress too. It was 101 degrees outside and for some reason the people at the store thought a toasty 90 degrees in their dressing rooms would be great for their paying customers. Really up the comfort level.
Anyway, so we get finished and start to head toward the front. It was full swing Saturday, everyone trying to get a deal for school so there were long lines at every checkout. My sister told me to go get the car and drive it to the front so it'll be cool by the time she got done checking out.
So I go with my nephew to pick up the car and drive it around a few times before pulling into a spot so I won't use up the rest of the gas, which is nearly empty anyway.
It's taking awhile but I figured there's a long line. Suddenly my sister calls me and tells me to come in because she feels like she's going to pass out. I turn off the car and run with my nephew back into the store.
I find my sister sitting on the ground. People are staring. The store clerks and staff are looking around at me and my sister with this edgy look like gazelles around a hungry lion.
I ask my sister if she wants me to call her husband, or her mom. I ask this a few times, not getting any real answer.
Instead, my sister tells me to call 911. By then I'm more than a little freaking out. I have to ask her twice to be sure that's what she wanted. So I call, and the phone doesn't seem to want to work. It seems to want me to be sure that's what I want to do. Hell yes that's what I want to do, Palm Pre, just let me make my damn phone call.
So this guy answers and I tell him what's going on: my sister cannot feel her hands and the left side of her face is numb. She's also sweating profusely and feels like she's going to throw up and/or pass out. I get the address from the store manager and tell the guy.
He connects me to the ambulance person. I repeat the story. She asks for the address...which I'm a little too focused on staring at my sister to remember what the store lady just told me. I find that the 911 guy is still on the phone and takes over in telling me. They say someone's on their way and they hang up.
They hang up. By then I'm wondering...okay what if she has a heart attack and dies? You hang up? What the hell? This is nothing like on TV where they stay on the line until someone gets there.
The store manager starts to bring my sister a glass of water and a cold towel but the ambulance guy told me not to give her anything to eat or drink so I told them not to give her the water. I do put the cold towel on her head though.
My nephew, who's 11, is utterly confused so he's rather calm about it all. That's good. I'm trying to be calm too so he doesn't get upset that the ambulance is going to come put his mom in a gurney (or so I think).
After hanging up my sister tells me to call her husband, which I do. The phone takes for-freaking-ever to pick up. Finally he answers. I reiterate what I've told two other people and so he says he'll be on his way.
And now, we wait. And wait. And wait some more. People are gawking. Some customers stand near us and just stare. Get a move on, thanks. It takes about 10 minutes for the ambulance to get there. One of the store clerks has to tell me, because I can't hear the sirens. I'm really kind of pissed right about then. What if she was having a heart attack? What if she was dying? It's ridiculous.
In retrospect I know it was probably traffic and my being impatient due to the situation and what not but that's stupid.
Anyway, they get here and I move my nephew, who's been sitting beside my sister, out of the way and have him stand by me. They start to check blood pressure, ask questions, etc. My brother in law calls me and tells me he's halfway there.
My sister starts to feel better so she tells them she's going to have her husband take her to the hospital. They have her fill out some paperwork. Surprisingly there's no bill for them to come out.
Soon after, my sister asks me to pull the car around and I'm like 'oh-kay' and so I do and sit in there until my brother in law shows up. "Are you in the store?" he says. "No, are you the green car coming toward us?" By luck he is.
He talks to my sister. My sister wants to go home, so we do. I get to drive, not forgetting the car's almost out of gas.
I try to keep up with my brother in law, who's a tiny green SUV dot in front of me while I'm going the speed limit and keeping an eye on the gas gage. Finally we get there, though, and I'm close to kissing the car thanks.
My sister thinks her potassium, the stuff that keeps your muscles moving and your heart pumping, has bottomed out so she eats a banana and drinks OJ and takes two potassium pills. She'd had this happen before and it made her faint. They agree if she gets worse again they were going to the hospital.
But over time she gets better, practically back to normal, and we watch movies. Then I go home.
All and all it was a big scare but everything worked out. I'm so glad she's okay. Of course I get to tell this story again to my mom and dad, whom already know as she told them but they want all the details anyway.
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16/8/09 16:19 (UTC)