Emergency situations

Lucyr

Lucyr

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
This week whilst I was visiting family, my dad had a sudden cardiac arrest in the car in the middle of nowhere. I carried on driving until a straight section of road with a little grass verge, we dragged him out of the car (difficult as he was rigid), and then performed CPR for 30 minutes until the ambulance arrived to take over. Meanwhile someone passing by stopped and drove off to get us the nearest community defibrillator, and someone else stopped and helped with setting up the defib machine and alternating the CPR with me.

I used What3Words to describe our location as it was rural, and would really recommend downloading the app and practice using it in case you ever need to describe your location to get help for yourself or someone else.

My shoulders are very sore still, I’m not sure if this is just because of using muscles differently or something more but will see if it settles down. Also still having some flashbacks, and some high bgs, as it was a very traumatic situation, but I think they will improve too. But the main thing is, we saved my dads life.

Anyway just wanted to recommend downloading and practicing using the What3Words app in case you ever have a hypo / get disoriented / some other emergency scenario and need to describe your location to get help.
 
Lucyr said:
This week whilst I was visiting family, my dad had a sudden cardiac arrest in the car in the middle of nowhere. I carried on driving until a straight section of road with a little grass verge, we dragged him out of the car (difficult as he was rigid), and then performed CPR for 30 minutes until the ambulance arrived to take over. Meanwhile someone passing by stopped and drove off to get us the nearest community defibrillator, and someone else stopped and helped with setting up the defib machine and alternating the CPR with me.

I used What3Words to describe our location as it was rural, and would really recommend downloading the app and practice using it in case you ever need to describe your location to get help for yourself or someone else.

My shoulders are very sore still, I’m not sure if this is just because of using muscles differently or something more but will see if it settles down. Also still having some flashbacks, and some high bgs, as it was a very traumatic situation, but I think they will improve too. But the main thing is, we saved my dads life.

Anyway just wanted to recommend downloading and practicing using the What3Words app in case you ever have a hypo / get disoriented / some other emergency scenario and need to describe your location to get help.
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Oh my goodness me, what quick thinking and how kind of people to stop and help.
What a good idea about the What3Words.
I hope he is getting good care and makes a good recovery.*
 
Great post @Lucyr and a huge "WELL DONE" for acting so calmly and practically to help save your Dad's life.... but also posting this to show people how such things can help them and their loved ones.
It reminds me that I haven't got What 3 Words on my new phone. My sister downloaded it onto my old phone for me years ago, as she thought it might be useful when out horse riding in rural areas where it might be hard to locate me if I needed help. Must rectify that situation now and get it on my new phone.

So pleased your Dad survived and hope he makes a full recovery.
"Hats off" to you for your actions. These things never happen at convenient times or in convenient places, so you did fantastically well and great to hear that strangers were prepared to stop and help.

Hope your shoulder improves. It could easily have happened hauling your Dad out of the car as that is no easy feat in itself or doing chest compressions.

PS. So relieved that your Dad wasn't driving at the time, which is what I was initially thinking when I started reading this post.
 
Oh, wow @Lucyr ! How traumatic for you all! I’m so glad you Dad is ok and you were able to help him. You all did a fantastic job. Thank god there were people who stopped to help you and get the defib.

Wishing your dad, you and your family all the best xxx
 
rebrascora said:
It reminds me that I haven't got What 3 Words on my new phone. My sister downloaded it onto my old phone for me years ago, as she thought it might be useful when out horse riding in rural areas where it might be hard to locate me if I needed help. Must rectify that situation now and get it on my new phone.
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Yes definitely download it, but also check you know how to use it to locate yourself too.
 
Lucyr said:
Yes definitely download it, but also check you know how to use it to locate yourself too.
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I had played with it on my old phone when I first got it but not for a long time and definitely a good idea to regularly familiarise yourself with how to use it, because we all know that in an emergency situation it is hard to focus and remember how to do something that you are unfamiliar with.

I just tried to download it onto my new phone and failed at the first and second hurdles..... PASSWORDS......Aaaarrrrggghhh!! The bane of modern day living!!
 
Lucyr said:
This week whilst I was visiting family, my dad had a sudden cardiac arrest in the car in the middle of nowhere. I carried on driving until a straight section of road with a little grass verge, we dragged him out of the car (difficult as he was rigid), and then performed CPR for 30 minutes until the ambulance arrived to take over. Meanwhile someone passing by stopped and drove off to get us the nearest community defibrillator, and someone else stopped and helped with setting up the defib machine and alternating the CPR with me.

I used What3Words to describe our location as it was rural, and would really recommend downloading the app and practice using it in case you ever need to describe your location to get help for yourself or someone else.

My shoulders are very sore still, I’m not sure if this is just because of using muscles differently or something more but will see if it settles down. Also still having some flashbacks, and some high bgs, as it was a very traumatic situation, but I think they will improve too. But the main thing is, we saved my dads life.

Anyway just wanted to recommend downloading and practicing using the What3Words app in case you ever have a hypo / get disoriented / some other emergency scenario and need to describe your location to get help.
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Well done you Lucy. That must have been a shock, good job you kept calm and others were close by to help. Hope your dad recovers soon. Big hugs.
 
SimonP said:
Well done 🙂

Re What3Words, the basic idea is a good one, however the lock-in to a proprietary database and the word database they use are certainly not great (words that are similar and words that might sound similar over a poor quality connection), so some caution to be used: https://cybergibbons.com/security-2/why-what3words-is-not-suitable-for-safety-critical-applications/

Very pleased it worked for you though and my best wishes to your Dad
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Worked fine for us, just used the phonetic alphabet to confirm a word she wasn’t sure on from my accent, and she confirmed she had the right location by saying “is that just outside xyz village”
 
Thanks for sharing such a personal and sensitive, but also such a practical post @Lucyr. I really hope your dad is recovering well.
 
Wow!

Really well done.
 
Well Lucy on being so level headed and so pleased that there was a successful outcome.

Thanks for the heads up on What Three words. Just checked that I know how to use it.
 
Well done, @Lucyr . You did a wonderful thing yesterday, and heartwarming to hear strangers helped.

I have had What3Words for several years, however, I would urge extreme caution in highly built up areas. One a particular occassion What3Words had me circling the Bullring in Birmingham. It couldn't seem to divert me the 100m to my destination. 🙂
 
AndBreathe said:
Well done, @Lucyr . You did a wonderful thing yesterday, and heartwarming to hear strangers helped.

I have had What3Words for several years, however, I would urge extreme caution in highly built up areas. One a particular occassion What3Words had me circling the Bullring in Birmingham. It couldn't seem to divert me the 100m to my destination. 🙂
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If you needed help at the bullring you could just say that on the phone. She asked for landmarks and there was not a single building in sight.
 
Thanks for your comments, he’s still recovering but at home, and has short term memory loss as a result of the long time he was out for, but is doing a bit better at least.

The flashbacks are hard to deal with personally though, I don’t know when those will go away if ever. He was actually the third family member I’ve had to do CPR on but the other two were quite a long time ago. I really hope that improves in time. It’s also hard to care about diabetes at the moment. I’m doing the basics, some insulin is going in, but that’s about as much as I can do for now.
 
Lucyr said:
Thanks for your comments, he’s still recovering but at home, and has short term memory loss as a result of the long time he was out for, but is doing a bit better at least.

The flashbacks are hard to deal with personally though, I don’t know when those will go away if ever. He was actually the third family member I’ve had to do CPR on but the other two were quite a long time ago. I really hope that improves in time. It’s also hard to care about diabetes at the moment. I’m doing the basics, some insulin is going in, but that’s about as much as I can do for now.
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You've been through such a traumatic experience @Lucyr, not only to witness your dad going into cardiac arrest, but also to do everything you could do keep him alive. That's a very big successful job you did there!

It's only natural to feel shaken up and even though you say you've done it twice before, the feelings aren't quite the same each time. The two previous experiences have clearly prepped you and you knew what you needed to do. Not many people know what to do in such a situation, but you did, and at a time in which your dad needed you the most.

I'm sure all the emotions are so raw at the moment because it is a scary ordeal. If you need to just do the 'diabetes basics' for now then so be it. In some days, weeks, maybe months, the flashbacks won't be there. And if they are, maybe you'll see them differently, in a less traumatic and more positive light.

You may have seen this already but here's a link to the BHF's page on after you have given CPR. I hope it's helpful. Be kind to yourself. https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/support/support-if-youve-given-cpr
 
Lucyr said:
If you needed help at the bullring you could just say that on the phone. She asked for landmarks and there was not a single building in sight.
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Thankfully, I wasn't in an emergency situation - just meeting friends who were getting ahead of me in the Hotel Chocolat cafe!

Interestingly (or not, depending on your view), we return different words in the upstairs of our house, versus downstairs. I imagine there would be different words in the garden too.

It is a good thing though.
 
How are you doing today @Lucyr? Thinking of you 🙂
 
Anna DUK said:
How are you doing today @Lucyr? Thinking of you 🙂
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Thanks for asking, bit of a stressful day to be honest as I took him to the cancer consultant today and he can’t have any more chemo given it’s caused a heart attack. I’m wiped out and ready for bed and it’s not even 6pm.
 
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