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Unpleasant excitement tonight

drooartz

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So this evening I was on the couch in the front room watching a movie on my laptop and keeping my recovering ankle elevated like a good little patient when someone came to our front door and started knocking and ringing the doorbell in a most urgent manner. I was, I admit, a bit annoyed thinking it was just some foolish neighbor kids.

Well it was the neighbor kids, and their mother, but they were far from foolish. It turns out that they needed our phone because one of the little boys in their house (there are a few folks living there) was not breathing!

Most of them don't speak much English, so the young daughter was in charge here. I gave her my phone and she called 911 -- I was not thinking quite clearly yet or obviously would have just called myself. They headed back to their place and Jenny and I followed to see if we could help at all. It's been years since my CPR and First Aid training, but I figured I could help if necessary.

The little boy was breathing, but having a hard time of it. His mom was there, and was able to give him a few breaths when he was having the worst time of it. There wasn't much I could do. Luckily the EMS were there in what felt like record time -- I'm in the country but within minutes there were a bunch of EMT and police there, with an ambulance. The first EMT on the scene got some oxygen on the boy, and at that point Jenny and I realized we were just in the way and went home. The ambulance took the boy away shortly after.

Yikes.

So, folks, take the little bit of time it takes to get some basic training in CPR and First Aid. You never know when you might have to help out. I'll be going back for a refresher, that's for sure.
 
sorry to hear, and yes you are right and yes it rattles you. glad you were there with the phone though
 
drooarts, yup, and the heimlich maneuver is also tought at these classes and is very good to know, i used it on a women at a restaurant one ofternoon, she had a chunk of steak stuck in her throat the size of a fist, her husband sitting next to her stuffing his face didnt notice that she was holding her throat and turning blue.
 
BTW they just revised the CPR guidelines to exclude Mouth to Mouth - they say compression is enough, and you're supposed to do it humming "Stayin' Alive" in your mind - no joke, that's the beat needed for the timing.
 
Had a scare several month ago while driving home from work. I was at a stop light and there was a large suv on my right in a turn lane. The girl driving was frantic and yelling "help us, help us." So I rolled down my window and could see the passenger (her mother) was in some kind of serious distress. I told the girl to pull into the service station while I called 911 and pulled in behind her. When I went to the mother on the passenger's side, I wasn't sure what was going on with her, but she was having difficulty breathing and seemed to be having chest pains and was moaning something terrible. It had bee a while since I had CPR training, and I was just thinking that I hoped I remembered enough to manage if the need arose. Fortunately, there was a trained off-duty EMT getting gas who came over and identified himself as such and took over until the ambulance arrived! She was still conscious when they took her away. Turns out, according to the daughter, the mother was diabetic and that is most likely what was going on with her. Getting refresher training is something that is on my list of things to do - you just never know.
 
JPSmit said:
BTW they just revised the CPR guidelines to exclude Mouth to Mouth - they say compression is enough, and you're supposed to do it humming "Stayin' Alive" in your mind - no joke, that's the beat needed for the timing.
I read that recently. It's been at least 10 years since I had my training -- time to get back up to speed.

Basil said:
It had been a while since I had CPR training, and I was just thinking that I hoped I remembered enough to manage if the need arose.
These very same thoughts were going through my mind as I crutched over to the neighbor's house last night. Luckily it wasn't necessary for me to do anything either. Serious stuff, though.
 
There were a few people living there and no one
had a phone.
Wow! I thought Everyone had a phone.
They should have one of those donated ones that just call 911, at least.
Good you were home.
That bad ankle paid off on maybe a life.
 
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