I had a little excitement, one evening some weeks ago. But, to tell this tale, I need to start at the beginning. Several years ago, my neighbor Keith “badgered” me until I paid for a wearable emergency unit – you know … just in case.
I remember putting it off for some time and, then, succumbed to his insistence. The first unit that I had was one among three. One to wear on a pendant; for a while, I wore it pinned to my trousers. One for the bathroom affixed to a vertical surface out of the way of water. And, the third to wear when leaving the house because it had a GPS in it.
After a while of switching the pendant to the GPS unit every time I left the house – and back again, when I returned, I changed and always wore the GPS unit at home and abroad. If I didn’t wear it all of the time, I would forget to put it on when leaving the house. The pendant was worthless outside of the house. And, so, rather than stop the car and go back into the house for the GPS unit, I simply wore the GPS unit all of the time. Pinned to the belt of my trousers. Truth be told, the company was not happy about that, but that’s what I did.
During those years, I used the emergency button once. I have wood floors in my house and I sleep in socks, year round. I got out of bed with the socks on my feet, and they simply slipped away from me in slow motion, until I was sitting on the floor. Years before, I fell in the Houston airport and ruined my knees, making it impossible to kneel on them. Thus, no getting up from the floor. The socks kept slipping on the wood floor keeping me down. After some discussion with myself, I decided – okay, this was a time to activate the emergency button. As I remember, a fire truck came with the rescue squad to rescue me from the floor. Not quite as embarrassing as tonight’s get together, but close.
After several years with that company, I did some research to see what other companies could/would supply the same service because the unit that I was using cost nearly $100 a month. I found a company that did not charge even half as much as the first company.
About three times a year, I find that I cannot go to sleep when I get to bed about midnight. I refuse to lie in bed and be awake. I simply spend the time thinking. So, I get up. Write something or watch TV. Then, about 4 am, I’m ready to hit the hay and actually sleep. The night before the incident was such a night. True to form, about 4 am, I was ready to sleep. Which I did, until 8 – when I got up and started my day.
Later that day, because of my 4 am bedtime, I had decided that I would try to go to bed early, at say, 10:30 rather than midnight. I reasoned that in the morning I would be attending a zoom workshop at 8 am, so I did need some sleep tonight. One of the last things I usually do before changing clothes is to use the oximeter to see what my oxygen level and heart rate are. I have an oximeter in the night stand by my bed, and when I picked it up to use it, it fell to the floor. I searched for it while bending over, but couldn’t see it. Suffice it to say that I, then, made a BIG mistake. I decided that I would kneel on the floor to look under the bed.
Even with rug runners beside my bed, I couldn’t get up. I tried and tried. Swore at myself for my stupidity; I should never get down on my damaged knees. Didn’t have my phone. It was already charging.
So, as a last resort, I pushed the emergency button calling on the new service. I was immediately connected with their dispatcher. I assured him that I was not hurt. That what I needed was someone to help me stand up. “PLEASE don’t send a fire truck; all I need is help to stand up.”
Kate was with me. I gathered her close to me so that, when someone arrived and she barked, she wouldn’t have cause to be frightened or make the rescuers too cautious to come in. While waiting on the floor, I heard someone knocking on the door, but don’t know who that might have been.
The rescue squad arrived within five minutes. They have the necessary information about how to get into the locked house. Neighbor Rita had heard the commotion and arrived to take care of Kate; who by the way, was a perfect angel. She did bark, but checked out the men and went with Rita. No fire truck arrived; only the rescuers in their truck. Four men in blue.
My thanks go to these four guys. Two of them helped me stand up. They did a bit of paperwork and left. Rita brought Kate back to me; Kate would be staying with me a couple of weeks. But, most of all, my thanks go to Keith for being so insistent that I have the capability to get help when I need it.
As I’ve said before, it’s an ill wind that blows no good. Here’s what I learned, that night. First, do not be so foolish as to kneel for any reason. Next, do not take off that emergency button until I’m ready to get into bed. It’s always good to know that the unit works as promised. Give thanks that we have “first responders.” We may need them, even if it is only to help an old lady get back up on her feet.
Be Safe and Be Well
The Cranky Crone
Thoughtful comments are always appreciated.