The other evening I was feeling quite woozy from a ear problem and was unable to stand other than to make my way from bed to bathroom. I told my husband to get the list of phone numbers, I have posted on the wall by the phone, and put them where he can find them if I should pass out. Of course he couldn't find the list, and I really doubt if he could punch in the number. He said he would call 911. I doubt if he could give them our address. I instructed him not to go outside or try not to fall because we didn't have anyone to help us.
This brings up a situation any of us could be in at any time.
lmohr-two suggestions:carry your cell phone with 911 programed at all times or get one of those Lifeline gadgets you wear at all times. Just press a button and help is on the way
Bluedaze: I carry my cell phone also andf have programmed into it the telephone number of my daughter, I have headed the number with the letters ice and alll I have to do is press that heading to get her number. I live by myself and need to be able to call easily if I am incapacitated. I also have a security system and as part of the service, I have a device which I can press a button and it calls the central office of the system so they can alert 911. AS we grow older, we all should arrange some way to alert others if we fall, or get sick.
Imohr, if your phone is a land line, not a cell, the 911 operator can tell where you live when the call comes in. In fact, in many places, just leaving the phone off the hook too long can end up with the police checking to see if you're okay. If all else fails, maybe you can at least get him to take the receiver off the hook. Or dial "0" and tell the operator to call 911.
Sunshyne, it is a good thing that calling 911 from a land line doesn't require you to give anyone your address. The first time I called 911 I wasn't able to do much except lurch to the door and unlock it so they wouldn't have to break it down to get to me.
My husband isn't as far along as Imohr's LO is. But although he can dial the number to call my daughter and has called both her home and her office in the past month, I doubt if 911 is within his ability. And I think that has been true for years, well before any diagnosis. You have to understand it is an emergency to dial 911 as well as being able to dial a phone.
Truthfully, I have no confidence whatsoever that my DH could call 911 for me if I'm having a heart attack, or passed out. Even if I was conscious I doubt he could put it all together to tell them what was happening. Sad but true, he'd probably bring me the phone and say "HERE. YOU DO IT!"
New Realm, honestly, all you would have to do is say "help!" When I was dying with pneumonia all I could say was, "I'm so sick. I'm so sick." She had already sent them out while she was trying to get info from me and finally gave up and asked if they would have to break down the door to get to me, because she was ready to tell them to do that.
Its that PLAN again, isn't it? I did write emergency contact numbers on the card I carry with DH's list of medications. Thats good in case we are in an accident or etc.. I wanted to add..'has memory impairment,needs supervision' but reverted back to 'what if he finds this and reads what I've said about him'' mode.. Heck.
But its another dilemma to be right here and need help when they might not know what to do or HOW to help. Yikes. Right now, I think my DH could dial 911. If he was nearby. Then there are the 'what if's' of what if he wasn't nearby and I couldn't dial 911 and on and on.. Its every man for himself, friends!! We need bracelets AND buttons for our help as well as theirs. Sticky notes on our foreheads as well.. mercy. Early morning funnies but much food for thought.
I've known for more than a decade that my husband would be useless in a medical emergency. Now I think there might have been some dementia well before his EVENT. But, on the other hand he might have always been useless in a medical emergency. The reality is that HE had medical emergencies in the days before paramedics and I figured out how to get help for him even then. I now wonder if he could have figured out a way to get help for me it if had been me.
So what do we do for ourselves. Frankly to this day I don't know what made me grab my purse on the way to the kitchen the day my leg failed. There was a cell phone in the purse. I don't know if I could have gotten to the land line on my own. But who knows, maybe I could have if I had needed to.