I think it is pretty safe to say that we are overloaded with information in our world today. It is hard to take it all in, and try to decide what you are going to do with all of the noise on your screens every minute of every day. When I tested positive for Covid-19 I already knew I had it, it was just a formality. Why did I know I had it? Because I read a lot, I knew the smell and taste loss which is a HUGE symptom in this virus. What I started to read about was the length of the virus and what to expect. I read an article that described what happens in the middle of the virus, around day 5 or 6 and that was what I had to look out for.

My day 5 was Saturday February 6th and it was rough. I spiked a fever of 102 and it wouldn’t come down. Then the cough started. After a lot of Tylenol, the fever came down in the evening to 99 but when I woke up the next morning it was back up to 101. I was scared, I am not going to lie. My mom was on the phone with one of my cousin’s who brought over a pulse oxygen monitor for me to use. My mom dropped it off at the door of my condo.

My cousin and I Facetimed and I checked my pulse oxygen. It wasn’t great and she said to me I needed to call 911. I didn’t want to. But I had to. I called and while I was on the phone with the operator she was giving me the protocol for when the responders enter the home. Keep the door unlocked, do not approach them when they arrive, keep your mask on at all times. I sat at the table, turned the TV off and waited for them.

If you have ever taken a first aid course, they really try to ensure you understand how to perform CPR and of course nowadays, how to use a defibrillator if one is available. One of the main reasons why they do that is because it does take time for EMS to arrive on scene. Every minute counts.

In my case, I was waiting for them to arrive and the first to arrive was the Fire Department. They were just casually asking me questions and getting the lay of the land of why I called. They did not come near me, they did not take my vitals, they were really there to assist if there was a need, but really to bridge the gap for the EMS to arrive. One of them asked me “you are not watching the Superbowl?” I replied, “No, the fact they have 25,000 fans there and I have Covid, turned me off”. He agreed.

When you are waiting it feels like a very long time. I am sure it wasn’t longer than 15 minutes but it felt like a lot longer. Once the EMS arrived, the other two left and they took over. They were asking all the questions, getting the history, etc. Then it was time to leave. I walked myself out of the apartment and in the hall was the gurney. My unit faces the street and I see when there are fire trucks, ambulances or police in front of my building. They took me door and out through the main door. The whole thing was a bit surreal and I wasn’t even sure it was real, maybe it was a dream and I was in one of my medical dramas.

Me, being the social person I am, asked the medic his name. He said, Lem. I said, Len? No, he said Lem, like lemonade. I was looking around the ambulance and I said to him, “I watch way too many medical shows.” He was wearing a mask, sheild and eye goggles but I could tell he was smiling. He asked me which ones, I said all of them. I started with Grey’s and he said his sister and mother watch that. Then I froze. He asked me what was going on as my oxygen was dropping. I told him I was having anxiety. He asked me why?

I had heard the siren. As a driver, I know that when you hear a siren you pull to the right and stop. You stop because the ambulance needs to get where they were going, fast. That there is a potentially a sick person in their rig. In this case I was the sick person. The siren brought me to my reality, I was sick.

We arrived at the hospital and they waited for me to be taken by the nurses in the Covid ER. I had a chance to talk to the other EMS who was driving. He was telling me how he is close to retirement and both his daughters are professional athletes and play for team Canada, but right now what sport they play has escaped my brain. He wants to move back to Guatemala and open a wellness centre on the beach. Sounds pretty good right about now. It was their time to leave, so I thanked them and they were gone.

I had no idea I would have another opportunity for an EMS interaction, but as my life would have it I did. I had to be transferred to another hospital after 24 hours. Again, I walked myself to the gurney and they wrapped me up in blankets and put the oxygen meter on my finger. The one EMS, I asked his name, Tim, who asked me what was going on as my oxygen dropped. Again I said, I am having anxiety right now. He put the oxygen in my nose where it stayed for the ride.

On the ride to the other hospital Tim asked me what they told me about why I was being transferred. After I told him the reason he told me about the shift that he and his partner were on that night. It was an overtime shift and their responsibility was to take Covid positive patients who were not critical from one hospital to another as the critical patients at certain hospitals were reaching capacity, many of them overwhelmed by the critically ill. I was grateful to be one of the patients that even though I was still quite ill, was able to be moved.

With every experience we have in life we have to look for the lessons. It is hard to believe that seven weeks have now gone by since that time I called 911 from my apartment. I am grateful for the first responders that were kind and made me feel comfortable during what was a very uncomfortable time. I am not looking to take a ride in an ambulance again any time soon, but knowing how hard these professionals are working and caring for their patients is something to acknowledge.

Please continue to be safe, get vaccinated when it is your turn and wear your masks.