Life Here & There 
9 Comments In a Heartbeat
In this entry into a comparison of Life Here & There, I’ll talk about a very true story that would have multiple different outcomes depending on where you live.
A close relative of my hubby’s suffered a massive cardiac arrest a few years ago. His heart had stopped beating and he had stopped breathing. Due to some good fortune and quick work by two including my hubby, the Emergency Medical Technicians or the ambulance squad was called for and sent immediately. Fortunately, they lived fairly close to the fire department where the ambulance was so help got to this relative within 5 minutes of his heart stopping. It took them a total of 12 minutes to restart the heart of this relative from the time they were called. At the end of three long days in a coma, his relative beat the 5% chance of survival odds and woke up. A long road to being mostly recovered ensued.
But the key detail is that was in a small American town close to the ambulance on a main road so care could get their quickly. What happens if this was a larger city that would require more travel time? What about if you lived out in the farms in the USA? Would you live or die? For this relative, had all of the circumstances not been just right he would not be with us today.
What would happen to you in General Santos? Well, no money equals no service and you will die. But not even factoring that detail in, the travel times to get to a person suffering from a cardiac arrest would often be far beyond what one would need to survive unless you lived close enough. Odds are you will not make it.
With the nature of the traffic and size of the greater Manila area, a cardiac arrest that happened to my hubby’s relative would be an event no one would survive through. An ambulance would have a near impossible time to get from their home station to a heart attack victim in less than 10 minutes. Sometimes they would be lucky to get past the first 3 or 4 blocks of traffic.
So for this category, the firemen, rescue workers, EMT’s and police get the big leg up in the USA. Their quick response time spared my hubby of losing someone very close to him. A big thank you goes out to those local heroes that spend their time serving and helping others.
Anah
What an eye opener… life could be taken from you in an instance. I wouldn’t even think what would happen if I had a heart attack in the Philippines. People would most definitely steal my wallet and stuff first before calling an ambulance, if there are any ambulance for that matter…
Hey An, i bought the cake sa international market. But don’t worry, kasi Baking the perfect Green tea cakes is one of my baking lessons. Cheer.
I’ve read that on the average is takes 10 minutes for the 911 ambulance to get to your door. For some that will be 10 minutes too late. Your friend is blessed to have the fire station right next door and have friends to help him with. What about those people who live alone?
There is actually a device sis na murag portable sya na kanang shock gani na ibutang sa chest para mag regain sa heart beat. Kalimot ko sa tawag ato oi. Basta In home kit to sya for heart attack/cardiac arrest. I plan on buying one here at home just in case. Even though duol lng ang fire department sa amoa mga 3 minutes drive ra but every seconds count diba. At least prepared ka if something happens.
Ahh naa ra naka remember nako. Home defibrillator diay to sya sis. I remembered when we went for our cruise 2 years ago, every state rooms has one defibrillator. Ang airplane man pud naa ani. I am not sure kung na FDA approve na ba ni sya for home use.
Geri,
I worry about those people who live alone especially the elderly ones. With my elderly clients who live alone, they have this service called Life Alert. My clients where like a special necklace with a button on their neck. This button is a device to where if the elderly had fallen down or feeling bad and dizzy, the elderly can push that button and that will inform the life alert company that there is something wrong is happening and Life Alert will call 911. I’m sure you’ve heard about this.
I totally recommend this life alert to everyone who is living alone and the elderly. It does make a difference.
Hi! An, thanks sa pagbisita. Naa diay ko tag nmo if oks ra. Lihog ko diri nga link http://lirastafford.com/2008/05/daddys-corner.html
Ngats!
@ Edgar- glad to see you back! That is soo true sa pinas. Instead of helping you, they will take advantage of the situation kahit pa you are fighting for your life. It is truly sad
@ Lutchi – oi day abi nakog naa kay recipe; na intriga baya ko anang cake ba. Thanks for dropping by.
@ Geri
Jet has a point that there are some devices that can help out those who may be questionable. However, he had a different friend who was incredibly well liked and charismatic who was living alone. His friend did have a cardiac arrest and died in his apartment. The most unfortunate part was his friend was in his early 30′s.
So unless there is a device to monitor, family or friends with you to look out for you, it can end suddenly. Kini laging mamatay jud ta ba ug oras na nato wa ta mahimo. Thanks sa pag share sa life alert.
hmmmmmmmm.. very familiar case len, my bosing undergo that Gary’s relative had…. every 5 seconds her heart beat stops… and that’s when her family decided to put some device called ‘peace maker’? [not sure of the spelling, mango jud ko ba!]
tapos, after that, wala na kaayo siya gina-attack ay…
there is a new policy napud diri sa gensan, na they have to attend to a patient whether they have a down payment or not, because the government or dswd will sue them for not attending a patient due to her low level of life.
naa ko tag nimo len.. check it here:
http://www.supernovachron.com/2008/05/tagged-time-daddys-corner.html
Day Anah, salamat kaayo sa kamunay pag bisita sa ako blogs ha, bisan wala tawon updates. Gilaay na man gyud kog blogging oi! Sayangan pod ko moundang maong bisan unsa na lang. I love the way u write! You’re one of my idols in blogging, ang galing! all your posts are very informative, full of sense, thought provoking, etc, basta you’re one of the best! Saludo ako sau! Keep it up!