Alzheimer's Blog:

Today on my ambulance I have been busy. Usually people think of ambulance people as doing 911 calls. Maybe a car accident or someone calling because a loved one is having a heart attach. But my favorite calls are for normal people with special needs.  

One of my calls today was for an eighty year old female with dementia/ Alzheimer's. This woman lives in a nursing home, and some how fell out of bed. They knew she was up when it happened even though they were not in her room because they have an alarm on her bed to let them know when she gets up. She doesn't really walk, and just a few months ago had a hip fracture. They found her on the floor with a laceration to her head, bleeding. They are real good with their patients, and took her vitals, wrapped up her wound, lay ice pack on it, and gave her Tylenol for the pain. They called us and we showed up to help. This lovely elderly woman did not understand what was going on. She didn't want to get on  our gurney, and fought me when I took her vitals. She mumbled a lot, and didn't make much sense.  All I could do was love her even more.

Another one of my calls was for a fifty six year old male whose Foley was clogged. At the age of twenty four he had a diving accident which broke his neck and left him as a paraplegic. He can move his arms but doesn't have a lot of  control over them. He was frightened when we got him. His big concern was that we were not going to put him in his bed and make sure everything was set up like he would want it before we leave. His care nurse was not around at the time.  With help we sheet lifted him to our gurney, took vitals and off we went to his home. We made his bed, sheet lifted him into it, got his table over to him and made sure the phone and TV controls were in reach. He was very appreciative of our kindness to him. I wonder how other emt's treat him.

Sometimes I think my partner and I are hand picked for some of these jobs. These people need someone that is kind, compassionate, not in a hurry and ready to help where ever needed. These calls are the ones I love the best.

Be an angle, practice random acts of kindness.
Sincerely,
Marie Fostino
Alzheimer's A Caretakers Journal
Seaboard Press An Imprint of James A Rock Pub., Co.
http://www.mariefostino.com/
http://www.mariefostino.blogspot.com/