Soothing Effect

I was working at one of our slower stations on an overtime shift. That morning we had the 1st and 2nd graders from the school down the street stop by for a tour. The rest of the day was spent working out, shopping, cooking and eating. There were no calls. I was looking forward to getting a good night sleep at the station as well.

I went to bed around 11 p.m.

At 1 in the morning the lights clicked on and I could hear the sound of the speakers as they turned on as well. About a half second later the tones went off signaling that we had a medical call.

We arrived at the house of a 40 year old male having trouble breathing. We were met by his wife who led us into the dining room. Her husband started having difficulty breathing about 10 minutes before. AFter talking with him for a few minutes we determined that he was having an anxiety attack. He had been having about one per year for the last several years and they always feel the same. And every time, after we show up, he calms down and is ok.

This time we canceled the ambulance and then spent another 20 or so minutes talking about his options as far as treatment. He really didn't want to take medication for it but after we explained a little more about anxiety he decided we had a point.

He was very grateful that we would spend that extra time with him, in the middle of the night.

Just as I drifted back to sleep (at least it seemed that way) the lights clicked on again....

We had 4 calls after midnight that shift. So much for a slow station and a good night sleep.