Every day, we hear all the bad that is going on but for some reason people don’t take the time to give the kudos to the people who have given us a positive experience in the most extreme situations.
In the early hours of Sept. 18, my wife suffered a massive heart attack. From the 911 operator who was calm, supportive and informative in instructing myself on doing CPR to the first responders from Platoon C of the 67th Street fire hall, who arrived within four minutes, they were exceptional, kind and professional. Capt. Allen and his crew came into my home, took over the care of my wife and explained everything they were doing. They kept me calm until my daughter arrived and made sure I was had a safe way to get to the hospital.
Once we arrived at the hospital, Capt. Allen directed us to a family room and explained that once my wife was stable, the doctor would be out to see us.
The ER doctor and nurses were compassionate; they explained everything to us and no questions went unanswered. They never made us feel like we were in their way.
My wife was taken to the ICU within two hours, where we again encountered amazing staff, like nurse Kelly, who stayed over her shift by two hours to make sure my wife was settled.
In the 40 hours my wife was in the ICU, nurses Caroline, Shelley and Beth allowed us to come and go. We where able to have as many people talking and holding my wife’s hand as we wanted. They showed respect in the care, and even though my wife was in a coma they talked to her and explained what they were doing.
I don’t think I can find the words to explain the care they showed to our family.
Dr. Jessen was a straight shooter and gave us the information we needed to make the decisions for my wife’s care. She showed compassion, kindness and knowledge of the situation we were in.
When we knew the situation was not good, there was at least eight professionals surrounding my wife’s bed, but the minute we arrived code nurse Lyndsey came out and explained the situation and they allowed us in and continued to work around us.
They made sure we were all comfortable and did not intrude, and they tried to make sure that we had everything we needed.
We were allowed to play my wife’s favourite music, as her time to leave was upon us.
She was allowed to pass away with dignity and with love surrounding her.
The positive experience we encountered made the loss of our wife/mom a little easier.
Thank you,
Art Nichols
Christine Dwyer and family
Shelley Berrigan and family
Red Dee