So... in the completely weird category...

Last night my mom called; and told me she was having chest pain. First thought... why did you call me? You should be calling 911... but I digress.

I grabbed my other phone... and called 911. Little did I know... that if you dial 911... it goes to your local emergency response center *yes*.... but there is apparently no way for them to connect to other 911 centers across the country. I was informed to call the police in my mother's town. Which is what I then did. Unfortunately... it is an extremely small town ... usually with only one officer on duty at at a time... and believe it or not.... I got an answering machine for the police barracks. Yah. So now what?

I called the operator at the local hospital in my mother's town... and asked her to call 911 and send an ambulance to my mom's house. Which ... she very kindly... and quickly... did.

Next problem... my mom was in bed... unable to move in pain... and the house was locked up. So I tried to call my niece to go and release the code on my mom's garage doors... but she was out.

So... I tried to find the phone number to my mom's immediate neighbor ... but she has an unlisted number. So... I called a friend of mine that lives down the street from my mom... and she went up and opened the garage with the code... and checked on my mom... staying with her until the ambulance had her loaded and en-route to the hospital.

The good news is... I got this all done in super fast time... which is essential when someone is having chest pain. The really good news.... mom is fine.

WOW.

So--- if you need to call an ambulance for someone who lives 1900 miles away... it can be done :)

*photo by Elaine A. Russell