PSA: Answer your phone!

[brehon]

So, I'm up at 4 this morning for an abdominal pain call. Everything is going swimmingly until the patient asks for us to call his neighbor to come watch his son. The FD Lt calls the neighbor (who is home) -- no answer.

 

Pt suggests his cousins. No answer.

 

Pt suggest his other neighbors. No answer.

 

So, Fire Lt and I go upstairs to wake a 4 yo boy out of a sound sleep, get him dressed (he's in his underoos only), have him pick out a favorite blanky/toy, and carry him to the ambulance. His dad (the pt) had severe abdominal pain and couldn't walk. His mom was out of town.

 

The boy did great! Once he got over the initial shock of strangers waking him up -- and took possession of the special fire hat the firefighters gave him :) -- he was a champ. When we arrived at the ER the staff gave him a coloring book and crayons and (with dad's permission!) juice/graham crackers.

 

So, the moral of the story is twofold. (1) Have a list of special people w/phone numbers handy for EMS, FD, PD to call should someone need to watch your kids unexpectedly and (2) answer your phone even if it is in the wee hours of the morning. You might be on someone's list of trusted people!

[Parrothead]

I'm glad it all worked out well in the end.

 

Some people sleep like the dead. There were a few that I pounded on the front door while dispatch called on the phone for 10 minutes before someone woke up. I don't know how they sleep through it.

[laurad1125]

I'll second this PSA.

 

A few weeks ago, we missed some middle of the night calls because all of the phone ringers upstairs were off. Turns out my FIL had had a heart attack. He called an ambulance and was taken to the hospital. My MIL has alzheimers and was unable to help in any way. She did go to the hospital with him.

 

When we woke up we had messages on the machine that he was calling an ambulance, but we had no idea if the ambulance had come, what had happened or where they might have gone. The calls came in at 2 am and it was noon before we could find them. Everything worked out OK but missing those calls caused everyone more stress than needed. We make sure the bedside phone ringer is on every night now.

[GoVanGogh]

For us, it isn't an issue of not answering the phone in the middle of the night, but not having a phone anywhere near our bedroom.

Our phone number is one digit off from a 24-hour grocery. We constantly get wrong numbers, even in the middle of the night. One time we had a drunk call at 3 a.m., demanding to speak to the bakery department because they had messed up his kid's birthday cake. :glare:

[NanceXToo]

I'll admit I'm one of those people who usually doesn't answer the phone unless I recognize the number.

 

If I don't recognize the number (unless I'm actively expecting a call back from someone that I know might call me from some extension I don't have in my contact list or something), I let it go to voicemail. Then I check the voicemail, and if it's someone I want to speak with, I call them right back.

 

If I got a call in the wee hours I would probably answer it though just because I would automatically think it was an emergency and would want to know what was wrong.

[chicagoshannon]

If my phone rings at 4am you better believe I'm answering it! If a call's coming in at that hour it's typically an emergency and not something to be ignored.

[unsinkable]

So, I'm up at 4 this morning for an abdominal pain call. Everything is going swimmingly until the patient asks for us to call his neighbor to come watch his son. The FD Lt calls the neighbor (who is home) -- no answer.

 

Pt suggests his cousins. No answer.

 

Pt suggest his other neighbors. No answer.

 

So, Fire Lt and I go upstairs to wake a 4 yo boy out of a sound sleep, get him dressed (he's in his underoos only), have him pick out a favorite blanky/toy, and carry him to the ambulance. His dad (the pt) had severe abdominal pain and couldn't walk. His mom was out of town.

 

The boy did great! Once he got over the initial shock of strangers waking him up -- and took possession of the special fire hat the firefighters gave him :) -- he was a champ. When we arrived at the ER the staff gave him a coloring book and crayons and (with dad's permission!) juice/graham crackers.

 

So, the moral of the story is twofold. (1) Have a list of special people w/phone numbers handy for EMS, FD, PD to call should someone need to watch your kids unexpectedly and (2) answer your phone even if it is in the wee hours of the morning. You might be on someone's list of trusted people!

 

DH has tried to help countless children who are at the hospital unattended while the parent or grandparent is a trauma/ER patient.

 

It's heartbreaking.

[mommaduck]

So, I'm up at 4 this morning for an abdominal pain call. Everything is going swimmingly until the patient asks for us to call his neighbor to come watch his son. The FD Lt calls the neighbor (who is home) -- no answer.

 

Pt suggests his cousins. No answer.

 

Pt suggest his other neighbors. No answer.

 

So, Fire Lt and I go upstairs to wake a 4 yo boy out of a sound sleep, get him dressed (he's in his underoos only), have him pick out a favorite blanky/toy, and carry him to the ambulance. His dad (the pt) had severe abdominal pain and couldn't walk. His mom was out of town.

 

The boy did great! Once he got over the initial shock of strangers waking him up -- and took possession of the special fire hat the firefighters gave him :) -- he was a champ. When we arrived at the ER the staff gave him a coloring book and crayons and (with dad's permission!) juice/graham crackers.

 

So, the moral of the story is twofold. (1) Have a list of special people w/phone numbers handy for EMS, FD, PD to call should someone need to watch your kids unexpectedly and (2) answer your phone even if it is in the wee hours of the morning. You might be on someone's list of trusted people!

 

My husband will sometimes sleep through phone calls, even if the phone is next to him. I will hear it a mile away and rush to answer it. I do have it out to my friends that they may call regardless of time of day or night.

[Annie G]

And with so many people only having cell phones- no landlines- it's probably even more difficult to get them to answer in the wee hours. I wouldn't even hear my cell phone in my purse- and dh and the kids usually have theirs on vibrate all the time.