Fear the Sarge.... then watch her cry later part 1

My dad called me yesterday morning at about 6:45 AM to tell me that my mom was on the ground and couldn't get up. I had only awoken about 10 minutes before, but I scrambled out of bed and drove over.

He was freaking out. My mom was on the floor of their bedroom and unresponsive. The part of me that is prone to cry and freak out shut off. I instinctually knew what to do... but the little part of me that is the consumate cryer, really tried to break free and let itself be known.

I'm gonna say that going to CPR training was really helpful because it helped me to assess the problem and not panic as much. She was on the ground on her stomach, but I could tell by how she was that she didn't fall and hit her head. I was, though, unsure if she had fallen off the bed and hurt her back. I made the decision to not move her. She was less than responsive to anything I did. I yelled her name, nudged at her, clapped my hands... it was met with grunting and groaning. Her eyes did not open and her breathing was very sporatic. Not gasping... but irregular.

I called 911 and stayed with the operator until EMT arrived. They moved my mom away from the bed and when they tipped her over off her stomach, she vomited bile on the carpet. She still remained unresponsive. The room got even smaller when a batch of fire fighters arrived. No, they weren't cute.... I looked.

I went to the front room to call my brother. After the first call, I left a message. After the 4th consectutive call, he finally picked up. He was definitely worried, but asked me to keep him in the know. I called my boss after I called my brother. She's a sweet woman and when she asked me what was wrong, the crack in my wall opened and I cried a little. She did what a good boss would do, she told me to not worry and she would take care of everything. I'm positive that she did. I made sure that she got word about how my mom was doing. It's the least I could do for the compassion she showed me.

We were taken to our local hospital. Luckily, it isn't really busy here, so she got swift and excellent service. The only person I'm not really thrilled with is her doctor. He's an asshole.

Emma