danemayer
Well-known member
Wednesday morning while at Chatfield State Park outside Denver, my wife woke me at 2AM - she was having a heart attack. This was totally unexpected as she had received a clean bill of health on her heart 3 years ago. The good news is that she was discharged from the hospital this afternoon (Friday) and is expected to have a full recovery. It looks like there was no permanent damage to her heart, even though her left descending artery was completely blocked.
The reason for this post is to pass along something that turned out to be helpful. Before leaving on our 9 week trip, I had prepared an emergency information folder to keep in the glovebox of our truck. As soon as the first responders showed up, I got her medical history so they would have a complete list of medications, past treatment, allergies, etc. At the hospital, this shortened the medical history interview to a few seconds. They copied the card and attached it to her record. It came into play immediately when the ER Doctor ordered Demerol and 2 nurses piped up that she's allergic to Demerol. The Doctor had been told this less than 5 minutes earlier, but apparently forgot.
The kit also had copies of Medical Directives, Medical Power of Attorney, and Durable Power of Attorney which the ER staff copied. Fortunately, those papers didn't come into play.
Anyway, I'm glad I didn't have to try to remember her list of medications, allergies, and history at 3 AM in the middle of an emergency, so I pass this along. Perhaps it'll be a help to others.
Side note: I was very impressed at the response time after I called 911 from my cell phone. A park ranger showed up in less than 5 minutes and the EMS team was less than 5 minutes behind him. A pleasant surprise.
The reason for this post is to pass along something that turned out to be helpful. Before leaving on our 9 week trip, I had prepared an emergency information folder to keep in the glovebox of our truck. As soon as the first responders showed up, I got her medical history so they would have a complete list of medications, past treatment, allergies, etc. At the hospital, this shortened the medical history interview to a few seconds. They copied the card and attached it to her record. It came into play immediately when the ER Doctor ordered Demerol and 2 nurses piped up that she's allergic to Demerol. The Doctor had been told this less than 5 minutes earlier, but apparently forgot.
The kit also had copies of Medical Directives, Medical Power of Attorney, and Durable Power of Attorney which the ER staff copied. Fortunately, those papers didn't come into play.
Anyway, I'm glad I didn't have to try to remember her list of medications, allergies, and history at 3 AM in the middle of an emergency, so I pass this along. Perhaps it'll be a help to others.
Side note: I was very impressed at the response time after I called 911 from my cell phone. A park ranger showed up in less than 5 minutes and the EMS team was less than 5 minutes behind him. A pleasant surprise.