My husband, Dale, and I were in Spokane visiting his brother Lynn and his wife Terry. It was a beautiful sunny day and the plan was to do a little touring around the city. For some reason, Dale was having a little problem with his breathing. It was nothing too serious and not atypical for him. When you have COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), you have days where you struggle.
After breakfast, the four of us loaded in Lynn’s car and headed out to have some fun. Dale seemed to be fine. To this day I can’t remember where it was we stopped, but it was to check out one of the many beautiful sites in and around the city. As we got out of the car I noticed Dale having more difficulty with his breathing. Suddenly he leaned against the hood of the car. His eyes widened with terror and his face turned ashen. He reached in his pocket and took out his rescue inhaler. It always worked in the past, but not on that day. I could see him start to panic and knew that would only make things worse, but there’s little you can do to calm a person when they can’t breathe.
“I need to go to the hospital, hon” he wheezed. We helped him get back in the car and raced to the hospital. On the way I helplessly watched as my wonderful husband struggled for every breath. He was dying and there wasn’t a single thing I could do to help him. I stayed calm and talked to him in a soothing voice. I told him we were almost at the hospital and he was going to be okay. I wasn’t at all confident that I was telling him the truth, but I knew it was important to keep him as calm as possible.
It seemed like an eternity before we finally pulled into the hospital’s ER bay and Dale was rushed inside. As the nurses transferred him from gurney to bed, I watched in horror as he thrashed around in an attempt to resist the breathing tube they were inserting. Suddenly a nurse appeared in front of me. She wanted to know what medications Dale was taking and the name of the doctor who was treating him for his COPD. I stared at her without saying a word. My brain was dead. My memory was completely wiped. It was as if someone had pressed a delete button in my head.
It seemed like hours before I had enough brain cells functioning to give the medical team the answers they required. When I finally did, I was ashamed of myself. After all, as Dale’s caregiver I knew the answers. What happened that day had never happened before. Whatever was going on, I was going to make sure it never happened again. I vowed to write all the information down on a piece of paper and put it in my purse. Then, the only thing I would have to remember is where I put it if the need should arise.
The team put Dale on a ventilator, a machine that would breathe for him, and then in a drug induced coma. Only time would tell if he would be able to breathe on his own again or whether he would be destined to a facility that housed patients for the long term. After a few days of rest, the doctor decided it was time to see if Dale was capable of breathing on his own. The team started the process of weaning him off the ventilator. We watched anxiously to see if Dale would pick up the slack and he did. I remember, that day like it was yesterday. It was one of the happiest days of my life.
After a few days, Dale was breathing without any help from the ventilator and the intubation tube was removed. He would spend a few more days in the hospital as that wonderful team of doctors and nurses helped him recover. When it was time to bring him home, I was worried. He was very weak after his ordeal. Would he be okay to make the 6 hour drive from Spokane to Port Orchard? What would I do in case of an emergency? I could call 911, but hospitals were few and cell service was often sketchy.
To say the least, it was a nightmare trip, particularly when we crossed farmland where planes were dumping chemicals over the fields. I can’t remember a time before or since when I was as relieved to finally make it home.
After things settled down a bit, I decided to learn more about why I froze that day. I was always the one who could meet any emergency with calm reason and correct action. What was different? I understood the flight or fight response that was so necessary for the survival of a species including humans. But the frozen response like I had may well have resulted in my becoming lunch for a saber tooth tiger way back in the day.
I learned that as horrible as that experience was, it was perfectly normal and just one part of a normal fear responses. So instead of just fright or flight, we have flight, fright and freeze. In my situation, there was nothing to fight or anything I could flee. The result was that my brain perceived the crisis as so threatening that a deluge of stress chemicals were released into my prefrontal cortex (that’s the part of our brains that do the reasoning and decision making). These chemicals temporarily shut down that part of my brain making it impossible for me to think.
According to James W. Hopper, PhD, a part-time instructor in psychology in the Department of Psychiatry of Harvard Medical School, this same response is seen throughout the animal kingdom (think deer in headlights). In fact, he explains that rape victims sometimes freeze to the extent that they forget to scream, or even be aware of an open door as a means of escape. He believes it’s caused because we evolved from being a prey species and as such stopping to think could be fatal.
I don’t know of Hopper is right or wrong in his premise, I just know how important it is to carry pertinent information both for me and anyone charged in my care in case of an emergency. It could mean the difference between life and death.
The information we should always carry includes the following:
- Name
- Any attending physicians including phone numbers
- A list of all medications and supplements, including dosages taken whether prescribed or over the counter (be sure and update this information as needed)
- Allergies
- Ailments (heart disease, kidney disease etc.)
- Who to contact in case of an emergency include home, work and cell phone number(s)
- Insurance information if you don’t carry an insurance card
Since none of us know what our body is going to do to our brain when life pummels us with a fearful situation, it’s prudent to assume the worst and be prepared. I don’t want anyone to experience what I did on that awful day so I’ve included a little form to help you out. Warning: if you transfer this file to your phone and your phone has a password; you might forget or be unable to access the information in an emergency phone. Always carry a printed copy with you just in case.
Click here for your free wallet size emergency card.
Form from From the National Patient Safety Foundation.
Remember to periodically update your card.
