The American Health System May Not Be Perfect, but Its First Responder Services Are Superb.
The experience I had, especially in Ossining, New York, is highly commendable. The firefighters of Croton-On-Hudson were my first responders the day we had a gas lick in our home, and they arrived immediately.
First responders’ day of magic.
The turning point revolved around my wife who needed immediate health attention. Consequently, every second and minute counted. Without exaggeration, I might have lost her in that situation. My stomach was in knots from the whole experience.
Healthcare team’s deciding moment.
On November 6, 2022, it was around 5 a.m. on a Sunday morning. Putting the finishing touches on some of my articles kept me up late. Before attending church, I thought I should rest a little more. To my surprise, I started hearing some noise intermittently coming from the bedroom. At first, I thought my wife had taken after me as far as snoring goes. But that wasn’t the case as the noise intensified. I went into the bedroom to see what was going on.
I was unable to wake her from sleep. Despite my repeated attempts to speak to her, she remained silent regardless of how many times I called her name.
Moreover, her one leg was on the floor while the other was on the bed. What’s more, pills were also on the floor and her tongue was out as someone was attempting to lick an ice cream cone.
I just knew that my wife was in trouble, and I dashed to pick up my cell and call 911, nearly tripping over the bed comforter that had slipped on the floor. The only thing I could do was pray to God to keep her alive until help could arrive before it was too late.
Rescue team members arrived prepared for the task.
First came two police officers carrying all sorts of electronic gadgets that all modern cops should have.
Next to the scene was the ambulance equipped with medical personnel with their electronic equipment. An experienced nurse headed the medical team.
I had to move out of the way as they came in with a stretcher, a gigantic machine — I believe an x-ray — and they got down to work. Periodically I furnished them with answers to their questions.
Upon close examination of my wife’s situation, they quickly detected that the sugar level in her body was very low, and they needed to raise it. They did this immediately by putting her on a hemoglobin drip.
The nurse told me that her body temperature was dangerously low at 92.5F and her pulse was quite low. I reminded her that my wife always had a fast pulse.
I saw my wife trying to speak and when I heard her voice, I can’t tell you how relieved I was. But with faith just knew that God would protect her.
The team placed her on the stretcher, took her downstairs, and out to the ambulance. From our condo, you can take a ten-minute ride to Phelps Memorial Hospital.
The medical staff at the ER were ready to help stabilize my wife as soon as we arrived. Watching all of this action to save her life was so impressive. To me as an immigrant and now an American citizen who came from a developing country, the collective and collaborative attitude of the first responders even made it more interesting.
Thankfully, my wife survived, and we were told that we would have probably lost her if another hour had passed before we reached the hospital.
What makes the big difference?
With the hue and cry coming out of Europe lately, especially Great Britain with its health system in complete disarray, I can proudly say that we’re blessed to have a robust cadre of dedicated first responders.
I should also mention that despite my heavy African accent when I called 911, they responded immediately. In other climates, my accent was enough to put them off. Unlike in America, this wasn’t the case. At least in this situation.
Ironically, they only discovered that my wife they were coming to treat is a white woman. As a result, it became clear that their services are purely humanitarian. I pray that God will bless America with more individuals like those who are patriotic, dedicated, and completely color-blind.
Now on the flip side of things, despite that, I hate some aspects of our health system especially the insurance involvement because they act as middlemen purely for making money. Overall, we can see some benefits from our health delivery.
But don’t get me wrong. Medical bills are still coming in. A health emergency should, however, put life first, while bills and debts come second as they rightly did. After all, it’s said, “As long as there’s life, there’s hope.”
Comparing apples to apples
In some countries, including those on my African continent, we don’t have such a luxury. In other words, they are nonexistent. Most of the time, we drag ourselves to the emergency room either half-dead or alive. Maybe that adds to what makes us a third-world country!
My experience so far when I lived in Spain, had a contrary effect to what I experienced in the US.
I was working in a suburban town which is about 16 miles from Oviedo, Asturias, north of Spain. The transportation system from the town to Oviedo City, both by train and bus was irregular.
And the last bus or train normally leaves by 6:30 p.m. Unfortunately, for me that day I closed a little bit late and had to walk the distance. On getting to the bus stop, the last bus had passed!
My first thought was to call 112 the equivalent of 911. I explained to them what had happened to me. The reply was blunt, “We don’t have a budget for that.”
To cut a long story short, I slept at the bus stop till the next morning to catch the first 6 a.m. bus.
The American first responders’ services are really superb. Isn’t it?
Thanks for reading!
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