A near-emergency that got me thinking...

In My Humble Opinion
1

So I was in my apartment, eating dinner, when I hear screaming from downstairs/outside. It’s unusual enough in this relatively quiet place that I pause to listen for a moment. It soon becomes clear that it’s not a TV, or happy shrieking, but screams of panic and pleas for help. It takes me a minute to investigate, but by then, the incident had already passed.

What had happened (mostly deduced from what I saw and heard after) is that one of the small children who lives downstairs got a piece of candy caught in her throat, and was starting to show signs of choking. The mom became panicked, and rushed herself and her child outside to find help. A passerby did assist (I dunno if she did the Heimlich or if the candy just came out with a couple of swift blows to the back), and all was well (if not adrenaline-charged).

Yes, everything turned out okay, but it really got me thinking. What if that other woman hadn’t been passing by? Would I have investigated in time? If so, would I have been able to do what needed to be done? I know the Heimlich, generally, but I’ve not practiced it in years, let alone on a small child. (I considered mentioning the Heimlich to the mother, but I’m not sure it would do much good, considering her not-unjustifiably hysterical panic.)

So this whole thing has given me a lot of pause. What do you all think? How would you have handled a common domestic emergency descending upon you all of a sudden? What would the difference be if it were a neighbor, or your own kid?

2

I’m pretty sure I would keep a calm head and do whatever needs to be done. I know basic first aid, CPR, etc…

I was a member of a volunteer fire department and EMT crew (thought never an EMT myself,) and was ub nire than a couple emergencies (though granted, I knew what I was getting into before I got there, but it still does a lot to prepare oneself for the future situatiuons.)

3

Some years ago, I was lounging in my aparment when someone banged on the door. The woman upstairs was at my door with her daughter, who was choking. The mother wanted to use my phone to call the doctor. I performed the Heimlich maneuver, and all was well. The mother hadn’t even started dialing yet.

4

I’m pretty good in an emergency. I was a volunteer EMT years ago and have spent a lot of time in the developing world and war zones. I’m good in a clinch, but not so great at day to day life.

5

When there was a car crash on the street outside my workplace–a guy came up from behind a woman at the stoplight and T-boned her, flipping the car onto its side–I remember being one of the few to keep my head and call for an ambulance while people were still staring.

I only hope I can do that again, if I need to.

6

I was in Holland talking haltingly to a Rumanian woman (her first language was French) when her hair (presumably covered in hairspray) caught fire from a candle on the mantelpiece.

I gave her a trustworthy look, said “excuse-moi” and poured the contents of a nearby flower vase over her head. :eek:

It went quite well actually.

7

This summer, my mother and I were having dinner together, when she went to dish up the pie, and ended up cutting her finger with the serrated pie server. She grabbed a towel and went to walk off the pain. When she got back, I asked her if she was ok or wanted to go to the doctor. She thought the doctor would be a good idea.

So, I grabbed my keys and my wallet and my shoes, and the phone book, she called the local urgent treatment center, they were open for 20 more minutes. We left.

Driving to the urgent treatment center (and later the emergency room), I kept having to balance the nerves of driving in a high traffic situation, and with someone I wanted to get to a doctor as soon as possible, with the reality that a car accident (or a speeding ticket) would make it take longer, to get there.

At the urgent treatment center, Mom was leaking blood, so they wisked her away for immediate treatment–which proved to be cleaning and bandaging only. They wanted her to go to the Emergency Room (and told me which one) because if she needed surgery for a cut tendon or artery or something they would be able to summon a specialist.

I drove again. We then sat for a while in the waiting room–with the amount of gauze wrapped around her hand, it would have taken a very long time for blood to show on the outside.

Throughout the evening, Mom left two or three messages, I left 5 or 6 messages (some messages were left on both the answering machine and Dad’s cell phone. He didn’t have it with him that day, for no obvious reason).

Mom eventually got 8 stitches, pain pills and antibiotics, and a referral to a hand surgeon.
She’s got kind of a nifty little scar between her fingers.

She commented several times on how calm I was. Well, it helped that she was calm. And it helped that I didn’t have to do anything much. I didn’t have to decide which doctor to go to, I didn’t have to decide how best to get there, All I had to do was stay calm, drive safely, and make repeated phone calls to Dad. I didn’t even have to deal with the blood–I don’t like blood. Things might have been different under different circumstances, but as things were, it was not too difficult to be calm.

8

I’ve been in a few emergencies, some life-threatening. So far I’ve been able to keep my cool in all of them; I’ve taken charge in some, in others another person was faster to take charge and I know better than to get into alpha-dog-fights when there’s a fire burning.

Does this mean I’ll be able to keep my cool any time there is an emergency? No. But it means I’m likely to. I happen to have several advantages over most people: formal emergency training starting in college; a mother that’s been sickly for as long as I remember (after you’ve grown up taking care of the person who was supposed to take care of you, taking care of anybody else is a breeze); jobs that have put me in situations that would have sent others into cardiac arrest. I am by nature a pretty nervous person, but after some of the things I’ve gone through, your average domestic accident is a joke.

9

I frequent a lot of Mommy-boards and I’ve noticed that emergencies involving our own children are much, much more difficult to deal with. Quite a few mothers have relayed stories where their children were in peril, and they absolutely freaked; it shakes one’s confidence.

I did call 911 on my daughter last summer - turned out it was just a febrile seizure & no big deal. What happened, though, is that my husband was laying on our bed with her, she was feeling a little sick so I gave her some Tylenol and he was hoping she’d rest. When the meds took effect and her fever dropped suddenly, she went into a seizure (clamped jaw and all), stopped breathing and turned blue.

He yelled for me (I was doing the dishes; I’m always doing the dishes), I took one look at her blue face & immediately reached for the phone. Now, I’ve called 911 many times before - I’m sort of a compulsive “Oops, there’s an accident on the road, better call for help” type (something I learned from my Dad, he’s in Construction and has dealt with many incidents). Never, ever have I tasted actual terror in my mouth while doing so. That was by far the most terrified I have ever been in my life.

10

I was raised in a “handle the mission” enviroment. When the shit hits the fan you do what needs to be done. If you are going to freak out about it, do that later.
So far every emergency that life has tossed me I have been able to handle, or assist on.
Those include indicents with my kids.
So yeah, I think I would be good to go.

11

That’s what my grandpa taught me. I think he got it during his army days. The lesson must have sunk in well because during every crisis of my life I’ve been calm and able to do what needed done until the situation was stable. It’s almost as if I do a mental check: “Everything back to normal? Okay-- start crying really hard!”

12

I’ll swear to that. A few months ago, my middle son (about 20 months old at the time) fell and hit his head on the corner of a curb. Blood pouring down his little face, and I just grabbed him, and started SCREAMING for my husband. If it had been somebody else’s kid, I would have had the presence of mind to grab a towel, or a baby wipe, or something, but I couldn’t handle my own baby leaking blood.

(BTW, he’s fine. It was a little nick that bled a lot for a few minutes. His hard little head wasn’t even dented.)

13

I’m like that too, now think I really think about it. You can throw just about anything at me and I’m calm, cool and collected. I may appear to be panicing, but that’s usually becuase time is an issue and I’m trying to work fast, or trying to get others to work faster. But when it comes to my kid…a few months ago I couldn’t get her to stop SCREECHING, the loudest most pain ridden SCHEECHING I’ve ever heard from a chil (she was only a few months old at the time. Mom was at work and I called her to tell her to meet me at the ER, SOMETHING IS WRONG GOD HELP ME SOMETHING IS WRONG. I called Mom’s mom (grandma) and gave her the same rundown, she came over to the house and rocked the baby to sleep in a few minutes. As someone who’s usually quite calm and level headed, I was rather embarresed about the whole thing. But there seems to be something about a baby screaming, especially your (first) baby, that sets something off I guess.