Be ready for emergencies

I want to express my appreciation for the heroic action of the cabin staff of Air Canada Flight 875 from Frankfurt to Montreal on Nov. 9. Assisted by two physicians on board, the staff tirelessly worked to try to save the life of a passenger in the adjacent seat when she took ill during the flight. Sadly, she did not survive.

Situations requiring intervention can happen at any time and all of us should be prepared to help.

Take a first aid/CPR course and learn how to use a defibrillator.

Advocate that your employer, meeting place, sporting facility and house of worship be equipped with this vital equipment, as well as a complete first aid kit.

Let your immediate co-workers know if you have any medical conditions that may require assistance.

Be sure that first responders have access to vital information (in a local language if you are out of the country) regarding your health conditions, medications and allergies if you are unable to speak for yourself.

Take some time with family during the upcoming holidays to get updated on medical information. A gift of a medical alert bracelet could be life-saving.

And when you fly the next time, acknowledge that the flight crew’s role goes beyond enforcing rules and serving refreshments. They could be called to action to save your life. Lisa Grogan Morel

Brossard

On Tuesday evening, Nov. 6, a minor medical emergency occurred in my stained glass course at the Pointe-Claire Cultural Centre. A very active and seemingly healthy 78-year-old woman suddenly dropped, unconscious, slipping to the floor. One of the members of our group, a nurse, immediately went into action assessing the woman. Another participant dialed 911 as she headed up from the basement of the Noël-Legault Building on the Lakeshore, because of the poor cellphone reception in the basement.

Once we had made the patient comfortable, I went upstairs to check on the status of the ambulance. The caller was talking to the 911 operator, trying to explain that she couldn’t stand by the patient because of the problems with cellphone reception in the basement, but that there was a nurse with her. In frustration, she threw up her hand and passed me the phone. “He won’t listen.” she said. I took the phone and identified myself, telling the 911 operator that I was a first responder (having spent 15 years in the Baie d’Urfé fire department) and that there was a nurse attending to the patient, that she was stable but required immediate transport to a hospital. The operator, however, insisted upon rattling through a checklist, cutting off every attempt to explain that the phone doesn’t work in the basement and that the attending nurse was well qualified to assess the woman.

The story ends well, with the ambulance finally arriving. The woman was duly transported and diagnosed with being a little too active and given the advice to take a nap before the next session of the course.

But the question remains: Do the operators at 911 have any discretion in their protocols for dealing with emergencies? The checklist is obviously of tremendous value in calming a caller and starting a life-saving procedure where no trained personnel are available. But when told of the presence of the latter, why waste precious time with an argumentative, pedantic exhortation when speed is of the essence?

And when does the clock start ticking for the response time? Is it when the 911 call is received, or is it when the operator decides to dispatch the ambulance? It seems to me there must be some room for common sense. Cliff Oswald Pointe-Claire