Please note that any vagueness in this account is done to protect the identity of patient and medics as required by HIPPA regulations.
I often look at the crisis management side of major events given that for several years I was a volunteer in an ambulance corps, and my 26-year-old daughter is a full-time paid paramedic.
The Inauguration of our 44th President Barack Obama was incredible for its lack of crisis.
More than one million people standing shoulder to shoulder for hours upon hours in the cold to witness the historic inauguration.
Thousands upon thousands of people never even made it on to the Mall. Yet, there were no demonstrations, no major medical emergencies, and no necessity of emergency fire and police aid. In spite of the thousands of people waiting to witness, this event, who didn’t get inside, things were calm and peaceful. No need for fire hoses to quell the angry spirits of Limbaugh fans and other hate groups clamoring immediately on TV and the Internet for the failure of Obama’s presidency.
Yes, after the inauguration, Senator Ted Kennedy had a seizure due, according to his doctors, to his brain cancer and exhaustion. He was speedily transported to the hospital, and we all wish him well. My son, his wife and many of my friends from all over the country the country were on the Mall as witnesses to this historic event. I was even lucky enough to celebrate at Nectar’s [photos to come later].
While we witnessed and cherished the day, my paramedic daughter was on roaming ambulance sent from location to location on a 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. shift. I rang her late last night just after her shift ended to share our feelings about the day. Had she and her ambulance partner had any opportunity to see or hear any portion of the inauguration? Yes, they were watching Vice President Biden being sworn in on a big screen TV in Circuit City where they had stopped for a pit stop, when they were called out for an emergency.
She said they went lights and sirens to rescue a middle-aged woman allegedly having a stroke. When they arrived the woman was lying on the floor and incredibly disorientated. She could not get her breath, was unable to speak, and seemed not to know what day it was. Her young daughter was standing in a corner crying, terrified by what was happening to Mommy, and a neighbor friend was standing by.
While my daughter began to assess and treat the woman, the other paramedic made sure the daughter was OK to leave with the neigbor. A possible stroke in middle-aged woman is clearly an unusual event, so the two paramedics moved as quickly as possible to get the woman to a hospital, as she was so unresponsive and incoherent.
As they rushed lights and sirens to a large stroke center emergency room, my daughter tried repeatedly to calm her patient, asking her once again if she knew where she was, finally getting a response of “yes, in the ambulance”.
“Do you know what month this is,” the paramedic asked. The patient answered affirmatively that it is January.
“And, do you know what day it is,” the medic prodded.
“Yes,” the woman wept, “today is a horrible day because the wrong man is being sworn in as our President.”
Old fears and hatred die hard.