This week, we are going to take a departure from our regular dental marketing and practice growth message format. There is no video because this story is better told in words. But there is a valuable lesson and confirmation what we do as dentists is not only changing smiles, but also the ability to save lives.
This tale is about a scary situation my family came across this past weekend.
As dentists, we are trained for emergency in OUR dental office. We have a plan as well as the necessary equipment and mediations on hand to deliver life saving care. But when we come across an emergency situation on the street, or in this case, in the middle of a public park- it is whole another ballgame!
Because it was a nice day this past Sunday my entire family, including the dog, went to the park to finally get outside after being cooped up for several days.
While we were there, a grandmother who had taken her 3 granddaughters to play appeared to be having an asthma attack. She was out of inhaler with severe breathing difficulties when we found her. The panic on her face was overwhelming.
Here she was in a public place alone, in dire need of help, and her young granddaughters were playing across the park unaware of what was happening.
She had started to call 911 but she couldn’t talk to tell them where she was.
Can you image how that must have felt?
When this happens in your office with a patient, you have a chart with their name, their health conditions, mediations and emergency contacts. In this situation, we had nothing. This was total stranger we knew nothing about in distress slumped over.
Ron and I were able to work with the dispatcher to help assess the situation. Just as the EMS team got there, she collapsed and lost consciousness as she went into cardiac arrest. She was holding on, literally for dear life, until she knew help was there and someone could assist with her grandchildren.
That’s one strong grandma!
We got her care, got the girls pulled away so they didn't have to see what was going on while my kids did their best to keep the granddaughters pre-occupied. We were able to locate the girls’ mother back at home to let her know what had occurred.
Grandmother got to the hospital and Mom met us at the park so her family could get to the ER to reunite with her. The EMS team was awesome and thanks us for being there to help.
I am so proud of my family at how cool and calm they were during the whole thing to help out. Everyone had a role and they executed it perfectly.
I believe there are no coincidences in life, or in business, even if we don’t understand them at the moment. All you can do is prepare yourself with the best information and develop your skills so you are ready for whatever comes.
-Ginger