In case you've always suspected that public servants - especially those tasked with matters financial - are insular sorts, highly risk adverse and not naturally inclined to playfulness, be glad to know that you are absolutely correct. The proof is in the signs I saw while visiting Treasury Board one day this past week. Posted in elevators and on the walls: "Lunch and Learn - Adult Colouring."
Further proof surfaced when I commented on how strange it was that people needed to "adult learn" how to colour (for Pete's sake). My colleagues, even the ones who were not financial types, did not get my point.
Sheesh.
Anyway
The title of this week's post does not relate to the sad strangeness of public servants, but to the miraculous events of the approximately 24 hours between 7:30 a.m. Wednesday and the same time the following day. My sister Kim and her husband Kevan were having a normal morning on Wednesday when Kim noticed her husband's speech was suddenly slurred. Remembering the public information campaign for "signs of a stroke", Kim sat Kevan down and called 911.
The paramedics arrived promptly. They got Kevan to the nearby Belleville hospital similarly promptly. Waiting when they arrived was a 9-member stroke team aiming to take care of Kevan and Kim, too.
Kevan had a very large blood clot in his brain, but they administered TPA, a blood-thinning, clot-busting drug that, if given in time, can drastically reduce the impacts of a stroke.
Kevan's blood clot was still pretty big after the TPA, so they shipped him down the 401 to Kingston where there was a surgeon who could remove the clot. But, by the time they got to Kingston, the clot was broken in two and the surgery was unnecessary and/or too risky.
The doctor in Kingston said, "Now we have to see if we need to send you back to Belleville."
They spared Kevan another road trip and he spent the night in Kingston.
By the next morning, approximately 24 hours after his being struck by a potentially fatal blood clot, the medical team was seriously talking about letting Kevan go home.
And home he was at 5 p.m. that day.
Let's review. It was your tax dollars that paid for the public education campaign that helped Kim understand the severity of the situation on Wednesday morning. Your tax dollars paid for 911, so Kim had someone to call. And, of course, your tax dollars paid for the health care teams, equipment and medication that saved Kevan's life.
So please accept my heartfelt thanks.
Have a great week!
Karen
No comments:
Post a Comment