Monday, October 02, 2006

Just When You Think...

I had a rough day today. It was the kind of day that I'd normally end with a cold pino grigo or a nice Magners. I think today I'm going to take a tylenol pm and call it a day.

As I was driving to school I felt like *something* was going to happen and it wasn't going to be good. It's the kind of feeling that you get in the pit of your stomach. I dunno, I don't get it alot, but when I do it's never wrong. And it's never good news.

I had Earth Science today. The professor has cancer and is actively going through chemo. He's been a trooper. I guess he finished a round last week. Today when I walked in I bumped the screen that he shows slides on with my backpack as I walked by and it flung up, making a loud crack. I said, "My day can't get much worse. Sorry I interrupted." Boy was I wrong.

The professor said maybe 2 sentences more then stopped in the middle of one. He looked white as a sheet. He said that he wasn't feeling well and that class was cancelled. He sat down on a stool with a table in front of him.

We picked up our things and some started to leave. Something made me hang back. I got up, went to the professor and asked if I could call someone to pick him up. He said his wife was downstairs in the parking lot. I asked what her name was and that I'd find her and bring her up.

Then he passed out. Luckily he fell forward onto the table. I had my hand on him before his head hit the table and I yelled for 2 of the guys still hanging around to come help me get him onto the floor or to hold him upright. I told someone to call 911. I kept talking to him, "Dr. stay with us, hang in there. We're getting help. Hang in there. Dr. can you hear me??" over and over. He came to and said he didn't need help, he just felt...then passed out again.

One student went to get the night admin and the admin sent me down to tell security about the ambulance. I guess the professor woke again and vomited (ew. so glad I missed that). By the time I got back from security someone got his wife and she was talking to him, although he had no idea where he was or what happened.

The ambulance came and took him to the hospital.

I was shaking as I walked to my car. I'm still shaky and it happened 4 hours ago. I'll never forget the look in his eyes when he came to the first time. There was nothing there. Scary....

People, listen to me. Most of the people in the class had no idea what to do and they were in awe by the fact that I did. If I didn't yell for the guys to come help me they would have just stood there in shock. If I didn't yell for someone to call 911 they never would have.

Take cpr classes, take first aid classes. Educate yourself on what to do in an emergency. You never know when one will happen.

7 Comments:

Blogger Sachi said...

Agreed. I learned, after a co-worker had a medical emergency, that if I had a medical emergency in the office as it was staffed on that day, I likely would have died.

3:31 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

OMG, he is so lucky you were there and stayed back. *hug*

2:16 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

good advice! and good for you for keeping your wits about you.

4:21 PM  
Blogger Uccellina said...

Good job, SFF. As a former EMT, however, I strongly recommend the American Heart Association's CPR training over the Red Cross.

6:44 PM  
Blogger Amy said...

No doubt, people can be damn clueless when it comes to emergencies. Sometimes it's shock, sometimes it's plain not wanting to get involved. Good for you!

9:47 PM  
Blogger www.stepherz.com said...

Wow, how scary! Good thing you were there! I work with firefighters and they all know cpr. I feel quite safe there. I agree folks should at least read a book on CPR.

8:50 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow, that is quite a day. Thanks for commenting about my aunt. We forget just how fragile life can be until we see it slipping away. I watched her last breath and I am sure, like the look in his eyes for you, that I won't ever forget it.

11:09 PM  

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