Issue link: https://imageup.uberflip.com/i/1356325
6 | OHCC LIVING | APRIL 2021 | The Vial of Life Form: A Personal Experience I will admit that sometimes I do not practice what I preach, and that fault became very apparent during my recent experience. Linda and I were spending a very peaceful week in our RV – just happy to be out of the house. We went to bed as usual listening to the peaceful sounds of the waves near the campground. A few hours later, I was rudely awakened by the most gosh-awful, searing, mind numbing, excruciating (you get the point) pain known to mankind. I stumbled out of bed only to fall back onto the couch in even more pain and screaming for someone to help me – or shoot me! You can imagine Linda's predicament – she is woken by a screaming husband, it's the middle of the night, and we're in a somewhat unfamiliar location. However she did have the good sense to call 911 and ask for help. (Lesson 1 – always know where you are. In this case, since the call was made by a cell phone it was important that Linda knew the name and address of the campground AND the site number). The paramedics arrived shortly after the 911 call (not soon enough for me). They interrupted my begging for something to stop the pain to ask me what was wrong (silly question). When I just moaned louder they asked Linda what medications I was taking as they did not want to give me anything for the pain until they knew if it would interfere with my meds. Linda knew I had high blood pressure and was taking something but did not know exactly what. (Lesson 2 – make sure your emergency contact (in this case Linda) knows what meds you take – and their doses). Bottom line – no info; no pain meds. I was transported to the local hospital where the questioning started all over again by a variety of people. Questions like, what hurts, what insurance do you have, what medications do you take, who's your emergency contact, who was the 14th president of the United States (at least I think that was one of the many questions – but I was still in extreme pain), and all the questions had to be answered before I could get medical treatment – and the pain meds! I kept waiting for Linda to help me out with all the answers (except for who the 14th president was) but then I remembered she could not help because she was not allowed to come to the hospital because of COVID restrictions (Lesson 3 – prepare for the unexpected). Well, I must have answered some of the questions – right or wrong, because I finally got the pain meds. Three days later I was released from the hospital. I had either a bad case of indigestion, or I passed a kidney stone, or I had something else wrong. I make light of this now (now that the pain is gone), but I could have received the medical attention (and the pain meds) I needed much sooner had I provided the requested information. I should have completed the Vial of Life form (found on the SERT website – www.tinyurl.com.ohccsert) and made sure Linda knew where it was located. I did her a disservice, I made it harder for the medical staff to help me, and I jeopardized my health; simply because I did not practice what I preached. If you have not, please complete the Vial of Life form today. Always keep a copy accessible – and in all places. Make sure your loved ones complete the form as well. My story ended well, but the next time could be different. I now practice what I preach, and I suggest that you do the same. By John Slayton, SERT Club President Just in case… Franklin Pierce was the 14th President of the United States