A Little About My Recent Trip In The Ambulance

Hi All,

Well, I thought I would post something about my little ride in The Fairfax Ambulance and the ambulance crew and people in town and at the hospital.

After my wife called 911, she called my daughter next door and it wasn't long and the ambulance crew was on the way. The crew consisted of Crew Chief Dan Vanslette, Ambulance Driver, Andrew Brown, Lisa Boucher and Tracie Higgins.

I don't know if the ambulance crew realizes it or not, but it certainly is a relief for everyone involved when they walk in as everybody kind of passes the responsibility over to them, like whew.

I know that when I had my first heart attack back in 1995, I didn't really understand what was going on and Sara Terrill was the crew chief that time. I think she only had one person with her. I remember offering to walk to the ambulance, as I am not a light person, but she let me know in no uncertain terms that I was not walking and got back up to help out.

The four of them had no problem bringing me out. Our house also has 42 inch doors that go out unto a ramp. Back in 1995, we did not have that luxury as I had not yet made our home handicapped accessible.

One of the nice things about living in a small town, at least for me and Maryann is that when the ambulance crew arrives, they know to come in on the ramp and they are for the most part familiar faces to us.

I told Dan that I wanted to be brought to Burlington as that is where my cardiologist is as well as all of my medical records. In 1995, they brought me to St. Albans, kept me in intensive care over night, had a cardiologist come up from Burlington the next day, then sent me down in an ambulance to Burlington. Dan contacted NWMC and they gave him permission to take me to Burlington.

Last July, I took advantage of the program our rescue has that if you pay $45 a year, they will not bill you beyond what your insurance covers, in my case medicare. Something you all should think about.

Something else to think about in choices of hospitals. The amount your insurance doesn't cover, at FAHC, you can call them and work out a payment schedule that you can afford. At NWMC, they want it all and now, otherwise they will put it in a collectors hands.

Anyhow, the ride to Burlington was not bad, but I do have to say that if you think you will be riding in a Cadillac with a nice smooth ride, that does not happen. Inserting an IV, well that is just about impossible I would say. I do remember Sara having the ambulance driver stop while she tried to do that here in Fairfax Village. While she was attempting to do that, I looked out the window and noticed, there I was, right in front of The A. W. Rich Funeral Home. Sure was happy when they moved on.

We got to the emergency room and apparently everything was all set as they brought me to a particular room across from the nurse's station. Wasn't but a few minutes and this lady comes in who works in the emergency room and told the crew that I was her Grandpa. Come to find out, Margaret lives just down the road from me here on the Fletcher Road and she was referring to me as vtgrandpa. I had spoken with Margaret on the phone last summer when I noticed that there were a couple of bikes at the end of her driveway. Amazing what happens in a small town.

My care in the emergency room at the hospital was fantastic and within an hour and a half they had done numerous test, had several doctors come in to see me who had already read Dr. Dauerman’s (My Cardiologist) notes regarding his instructions if I had chest pains in the future and the recommended catharization in case of chest pains. By 8 a.m., my daughter from Hampton, NH had arrived and my other daughter from Bellows Falls was on the way. Mary Kay’s friend Richard had been staying with Maryann, so Mary Kay headed for home to be with Maryann.

Meanwhile, Chris Santee had called and offered any help he could give.

As it all worked out, all of the tests they did proved that I was fine and most likely the chest pain was caused by an attack of acid reflux.

One other thing that happened is that Maryann notified our primary care physician, Dr. Allan Ramsay. Dr. Ramsay came in to see me and had already looked at the results of the numerous tests. I am extremely happy they found nothing wrong. He then personally called Maryann at home and talked with her. By the way, you might be interested to know that I will not receive a bill from Dr. Ramsay for this. He is just a very wonderful doctor that follows up on his patients. He has given his e-mail address to Maryann and whenever she has concerns about something, she just e-mails him and he responds or calls her.

People have asked me if I have ever considered going South for the winter – I don’t think so. Our little town of Fairfax has way too much to offer in regards to its people, services and friendship.

I just love it here, and why wouldn’t I?