Sunday, March 11, 2007

Life is too SHORT

This afternoon there was a medical emergency in our camp. Our neighbors next to us told Donna that a person in the rig next to them needed help. I was washing our rig, and ran over to see if I could help. I found a man slumped over in his chair, not breathing. For those of you who don't know, I was a medic in the California National Guard in the late sixties through the mid-seventies. Add to that my training at Southern California Edison and Great Southwestern, and my instincts and training kicked in.

Donna went to seek help from the workers in the park, while the lady next door got in her car and went to the office to get them to call for an ambulance, and I began giving him CPR. Since this is a rural area, it took the ambulance over 20 minutes to get here. I continued administering CPR after the paramedics got here, and they got set up to evacuate him. They left with the sirens going (his wife went with the ambulance). She told me that her husband had had a recent heart attack, but seemed to be recovering OK.

A few minutes ago, we saw lights on in the rig, with another car parked there, and went over to check on his condition. His wife told us that he didn't make it...we will always wonder if there was anything more that we could have done. And it also makes you reflect on life - how we never know when it will be our time. One of the reasons we decided to go on the road and see the USA and Canada at this point in our lives, was that we have our health, and can enjoy this lifestyle. It is sad when an event like this touches us so personally, but it makes us realize how lucky we really are.

We are really grateful for this special time in our lives that we can share all the beauty there is in this world as well as the tough times like today. Remember to try and live each day to its fullest and don't let yourself keep putting off things you feel are important until it's too late.

2 comments:

  1. Wow, that's wild. I am trained in CPR with work, though my certification has lapsed, but I hope to never have to administer CPR or major first aid. But luckily I know what to do if something ever happens.

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  2. I'm sure that was more excitement than you bargained for! How tragic for the wife. I hope she has family to help her through. And you're right, you never know what life has in store for you so appreciate all the beauty you can. So it's going to be a lovely 74 today so why am I sitting in this office?

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