I’ve been in Austin, TX this past weekend, visiting my in-laws after an extended business trip. I joined them for church this morning. At the end of the service, an usher dashed up to my mother-in-law, who is a nurse, and said, “I need you to come with me.” She pointed over to her left and I immediately saw that there was a young woman collapsed on the floor with people hovering around her.

It turns out that this young woman was having a seizure and within moments of her collapse she was being helped by my mother in-law and a physician who was also a member of the church. Once they had assessed her condition, they directed another person to call for an ambulance as this poor woman continued to have seizures.

I was thoroughly impressed with the fact that after only about four minutes, four fireman from the Austin Fire Department were on-site with emergency medical equipment, including a blood sugar monitor, oxygen, blood pressure cuff, and other important emergency equipment. The fireman had been there no more than 5 minutes when the ambulance arrived to transport this young woman to the hospital. In all, I think it had been about ten minutes from the time she hit the floor to the time she was being loaded into the ambulance. Pretty amazing, huh?

I’m so glad we live in a country where skilled medical care is just a few minutes away if you really need them. Have you taken the time to thank a nurse, a doctor, a paramedic, or a fireman lately? If you haven’t, take a minute and do it. After all, they might just save your life one day.

–Pete