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Show Emergencies are routine for these people p.g. blab By MARCELLA WALKER On Saturday we called upon the Pleasant Grove Ambulance Association to transport my mother to the University of Utah Medical Center. This was the beginning of a very interesting day. First of all, the ambulance crew of Anita Hardy, Dennis Shumway and Doug Bezzant was exceptionally kind and thoughtful. When I called them they were ready to go within just minutes even though this was not an emergency. When we arrived at the University they took my mother to the room directed by the hospital personnel in the emergency room. They had hardly completed this process before we heard the sound of breaking glass and cries for help. The Pleasant Grove Ambulance crew ran to give assistance and were able to help a nurse with a suicidal patient who had broken an IV bottle and planned to use it on herself. When all was quiet again, the ambulance crew bid us farewell and headed for home. We were and are extremely grateful to them for the service they rendered in such a gentle but safe way. We headed into a long afternoon. Tests were run and occasionally a nurse or doctor would stick their head in and give apologies for things taking so long, but we understood. breathing but they had got him going again. There were several little children with various kinds of colds and flu who needed attention. There was a fallen skier with a possible broken leg. There was a lady with an ankle injury. The list went on and on. We watched people cry in sorrow at the injuries their children had received. We listened as companions repeated how the accidents had happened. We saw police officers fill out . reports. We saw a young man led from the emergency room in handcuffs. hand-cuffs. Since mother's problem was not a life threatening one, we calmly waited our turn for the CAT scan. The nurse told us that they had hoped to have a "down"time for the CAT for maintenance that afternoon but they never did get to have it. The nurse told us it had been a day and a half even by the time we arrived at about 1 p.m. The power had been off for an hour already that morning. She felt that it was a bad omen. She may have been right. We asked if all Saturdays were like this. She replied that often Saturday was their quietest day, but not this one. The fact that it was a very lovely ' day, warm and sunshiney, had. probably caused many people to be outside doing fun things, such as riding three-wheelers, playing ball, taking walks. Accidents were the result of some of this fun activity. The University of Utah Medical Center has all kinds of student doctors, student nurses, interns, residents, and support staff. The large emergency room staff was kept very busy all day. Many of them work a 12 hour shift. I imagine most of them were ready to drop when they went home. I know that I was. We left the hospital at about 10:30 p.m. We had spent over eight hours in the emergency room alone. That is where they do their evaluating before sending a patient to a medical floor. I certainly came away with a feeling of appreciation for these dedicated workers, who, like the crew from the Pleasant Grove Ambulance Association, were willing to go the extra mile to give help, consolation, and kind words of encouragement at a time when it was direly needed. The Pleasant Grove Ambulance crew knows how I feel, but I would like the public to know what a great job they do. We are fortunate to live in a community where we have the type of emergency medical assistance available that we do. They need a new ambulance. They will accept donations in any amount, so help them out any way you can. Those people were swamped. There was another attempted suicide besides the one our ambulance am-bulance crew had helped with earlier. There was a case of frostbitten frost-bitten feet. There was a young man who had been in an accident on a three-wheeler and had received severe head injuries. There were two young men who had been playing ball and each had had a collision with another player. One had to have 10 or 15 stitches above his eye and the other had a dislocted elbow. There was a little girl who had pulled away from the adult who was holding her hand and had fallen and a stick had penetrated her eye as far as the edge of the brain. 1. : There was a baby - which had ! turned blue and had stopped |