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Naperville
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Senior Voices – ER visit teaches lessons for a lifetime

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Three levels of care are provided by Edward Hospital and it’s good to talk with your doctor to know which level would best suit your needs when your physician is not available.

For instance, Walk-in Clinics are for minor care, Immediate Care Centers provide a higher level of care and, of course, Emergency Rooms are for emergencies.

Many years ago I read in the newspaper that Edward Hospital had hired its first chaplain. About a week later, I decided to jog around my circle. It was about 10PM on a beautiful, hot and muggy Saturday night. However, halfway around the circle, I fell and two of my fingers were dangling – not bleeding – just dangling. So I drove myself to the Edward ER. What an experience!

The ER was full. Paramedics were bringing in stretchers with young patients that had been injured in car accidents. Police were there. Then more patients, including a drug overdose. Police were questioning the young people as to what he may have taken. It was so sad. It was chaos.

Then a father ran in holding the throat of his child. You could see an obstruction. He told the nurse his child had swallowed a toy and it was stuck in his throat. He handed his child to the nurse and fainted dead away.

Some people asked me where a pay phone was, where the restrooms were, where to get a drink. Nurses were running from one needy person to another, trying to do their best.

I first wrote this story for the Naperville Sun back in the late 1970s. It was titled “And there I sat with my two broken fingers.”

I had nothing but praise for how the ER staff was handling every crisis. Facetiously I’d asked, “I wonder where the new chaplain was? Perhaps he was in his room somewhere watching General Hospital on TV.”

I was trying my best to help in any way I could, but a Chaplain’s presence would have been nice.

The next issue of the Sun included a Letter to the Editor from a minister, who I later learned was instrumental in getting the Chaplain hired. The minister said I had taken a “cheap shot” at the chaplain. And the next issue had letters defending my observation by saying the chaplain had taken a “cheap shot at Bev.” It really got to be funny. I called the minister and we had a great lunch together.

I think all teenagers who apply for a driver’s license should spend a few warm Saturday nights in the emergency room to see what can happen. That experience would say more than any words could do.

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Bev Patterson Frier
Bev Patterson Frierhttp://napervill.il.us
Bev Patterson Frier was co-founder of the Senior Task Force with Karen Courney. Their efforts led to RAN, Ride Assist Naperville. Bev hails from Anderson, Ind., but the dedicated arts enthusiast boasts that Naperville is her family.

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