911

Yesterday at work a patron came up to me at the reference desk and told me that a lady down in the fiction reading room had reqested that he ask us to call 911 because she had dislocated her hip. Not wanting to call 911 without confirming the emergency I asked my co-worker Don to go down there and verify that we had an actual emergency. Don enthusiastically hopped up and walked down to the reading room and disappeared around the corner. Seconds later he reappeared and gave me the thumbs up.

I immediately called 911 and told the nice lady that we had a lady who had fallen down and dislocated her hip. She then started asking all kinds of questions concerning the injured. Things like is concsious? Is she breating normally? How old is she? How far did she fall? I didn't have an answer to any these questions so I asked if she would hold while I went to appraise her condition. She said, "go ahead, sparky."

I went down to the reading room and the lady was sitting in a chair at the table in obvious pain. Don was sitting with her and attempting to keep her company until the paramedics arrived. I asked her her age, she said 58 and I saw that she was fine but hurting.

I then went back to the phone and gave the 911 operator all the information that I had. She then informed me that the paramedics were on the way, not to move the victim, not to apply a splint and not to give her food or water and to go ahead and tail the victim that help was on the way. I walked back to where she was and told her that the paramedics were coming and that I was not to feed her. She caught my little joke, grimaced and said she wasn't hungry.

The paramedics arrived in less than ten minutes which was encouraging to me since we all may need emergency medical help someday. I can be less carfeful now when playing in the annual ice storm.