Letter to Editor | A brief, but sweet nap

||| FROM WILLIAM THOMPSON |||

At 4:30 a.m.on Nov.4, I awake. The peculiar symptoms I had for a couple days is now clear. My heart is failing. Do I call 911 or do I drive to the Eastsound firehouse where I know the highest rated EMTs in Washington will likely be in dreamland? No time to think further, or explain anything on a phone call, I’m out the door.

After three miles I’m halfway. I tell myself, stay conscious, you can do it. I arrive and plant myself at the front door of the firehouse after sounding the alarm. Two minutes later I’m on a heart monitor in the ambulance and being prepared for a life-flight helicopter which will arrive from Bellingham in less than 10 minutes, landing a couple hundred yards away from the firehouse. I’m shown the readings on the graph and why there isn’t a moment to spare. On board the arriving helo is a doctor who’ll be sitting next to me. He could be an NFL fullback from his obvious fitness. The transfer from the ambulance to the chopper was fast, fast, fast. I’ll remember the few seconds of rain on my face in that transfer for the rest of my life.

Just after being airborne I relax into a serene sleep only to be interrupted by the fullback in my face saying “Welcome back!” He had been doing chest compressions for two minutes before my ‘return’.

The helo arrives at St. Joseph’s in about eight minutes and I’m rolled into a crazy ‘Cath Lab’ with a team of about fifteen prepping for the heart specialist, Dr. King, whose shift was beginning with me. A vein is opened in my wrist, one stent will be required on a heart muscle. Dr King arrives, explains the situation, and wants my OK. Geez, no problem there. The machinery in a Cath Lab is amazingly bizarre.

I’m relaxing in my recovery room within 40 minutes, enjoying the fall colors of Bellingham out a 5′ by 7′ window on the 4th floor. From my awakening to being in recovery was less than two hours. The prognosis is excellent. After two days in the hospital I’m home after an angel comes from Orcas to take me home. The brutal chest compressions will take a month to recover from but no broken ribs.

I’m celebrating Thanksgiving early.

3 Comments

Eleanor C Hoague November 7, 2023 at 9:16 pm

Your precise and detailed description makes tears come to my eyes. Glad it was so successful.
Dan L Christopherson November 12, 2023 at 1:36 pm

Thank you, Orcas Fire and Rescue! As William Thompson says, it is the highest rated emergency medical service in Washington. We are very lucky! And I hope volunteerism for OIFR continues!
Nick Negulescu November 13, 2023 at 4:01 pm

Happy Thanksgiving! I read a lot of stories and this was a story that I would rather read. You sir, were brave enough to navigate it with thoughtful consideration. My blessings that the weather was in your favor and the metal bird was able to arrive on-time.