How prepared are we in a medical emergency?

When a man collapsed at a dinner function, people offered help and more people crowded round, probably making his situation worse. A suggestion to send him to hospital, and a few of them carried him, some holding his upper body, some holding his legs.

With the benefit of hindsight, what is best under the given circumstances? Most of us would have come across advice after advice on how to deal with such an emergency but how many of us know confidently what to do? One thing for sure, at the dinner in Pusing last night, none of the guests was a doctor. Could it have been better to call for an ambulance instead?

I would think so, assuming it was a heart attack but then again, because nobody could foresee as each case is unique. In America, even doctors are likely to pretend they are not because there were too many cases of patients’ families suing them when things went wrong.

22 years ago, my eldest brother suffered a heart attack at the age of 50 and was sent to KL General Hospital. He died soon after. Over a year ago, history repeated itself, but with a happy difference when his second son, at the age of 50 suffered a heart attack while at work in a Wagamama restaurant in London.

He was told to rest while they called for an ambulance. It was well equipped and manned by knowledgeable staff who took care of him while in the vehicle and upon reaching St. Thomas's Hospital was immediately attended to and soon after had angioplasty done. He was so lucky the restaurant is near such a famous teaching hospital with experienced specialists. Last night, while typing my earlier post, I received his Christmas greetings by sms!