National Health Service

Monday night, at right around 21:00 my sister gave me a phone call and very nervously told me: "I was chatting with mum on the phone and suddenly she stopped talking, I believe she has lost consciousness, please go to her house to see what has happened, dad do not answer the phone either........." So, on the fly, I put my denims on, and took the bike heading to my parent's. When I arrived, my mum was deeply slept on her bed. Breathe OK, heart beats were OK too, blood pressure a bit low.

I gave my wife a phone call to let her know that perhaps I was going to stay the night at my parent's just to be there in case of emergency, and then she told me: "ask her if she has any pain in her chest, ask her if she feels OK, wake her up and ask her, please, ". At first I told my wife she was being a bit exaggerated but she angrily insisted “listen you idiot, if it is her heart this two first hours are vital, just do it!!, wake her up and ask her how does she feel!!” So I woke my mum up and.............she told me she had a tiny pain in her chest!!!!!......."¡¡¡¡¡los huevos se me pusieron de corbata!!!!" I got scared folks.

So I dialled up 112 (our 911) and in a few minutes I was talking to a doctor. I gave him all the details about breathe, heart beats and blood pressure. He asked me about what has happened, a few more things regarding my mum's health and then told me "rise your mum's legs with a pillow, the ambulance is on its way". I swear the ambulance took only 15 minutes to arrive home. A nurse came in, bringing a wheel chair with him, -my mum was absolutely slept as I've never seen anybody before, she looked as if she was unconscious- the nurse tested her blood glucose levels, body temperature and blood pressure. Then he gave the doctor a phone call to let him know what the real situation was. Quickly we arrived at the hospital (the one in the picture). A female doctor and two more nurses were waiting for us at the hospital entrance. They kindly asked my dad and me to wait a the waiting room and in 15 minutes they told us that my "dear" mum had taken a very powerful sleeping pill that spreaded it effects while she was talking to my sister. Thanks God, she fallen down on her bed!! She was not aware about how quickly these pills spread its effects.

We drove back home after 30/35 minutes at the hospital, mum was still semi knocked out but she was able to walk with the aid of my father and me.

At home she went straight to bed and fall asleep quickly again.

Then I realized that our emergency health service is superb. It is one of those few things I can say I'm proud of. What I mean is that to me, that portion of my taxes that goes to support this National Health Service is absolutely worth. When you have to face an emergency at home, it is great you can talk with a doctor on the phone. My dad, who is 75 y/o, told me, "Did you notice how gently they have treated your mum? I thought we'd had to deal with those typical civil servants". He went on "this is the first time we need to dial up 112, and I swear that I never expected to be treated this way"

We've got waiting list over here too and those lists really suck, but when talking about an emergency...........folks ¡¡las cosas aquí funcionan de cojones!!!