I want to give a big shout out to the six EMTs who responded to my husband Larry’s 911 call a few nights before Christmas last year. The team who came to our house included five men and one woman -- all brave enough to save me after I slipped in our step-in bath tub and couldn’t get out. I was trapped for about 45 minutes in a small space (about 2 feet by 2 feet) for an agonizing 45 minutes. I couldn’t move one way or another.
Fortunately for everyone involved, Larry gave me the top of my pajamas, which I was able to put on backwards – and a bath towel to cover the rest of me. Although in a state of panic, as soon as the team arrived, I started laughing and couldn’t stop. One of the team members said, “At least you didn’t break your giggle box.”
That made me laugh even more. One huge man climbed over the tub and with the help of another team member wrapped a harness tightly around my chest and arms. Then they hoisted me up and out of the tub.
I asked the team if this was their first “step-in tub” rescue – and they all nodded “Yes!” So I promised them I would share the experience on various sites in honor of their bravery.
Looking back on this incident, I think it would have made a very funny “I Love Lucy” sketch. Too bad there’s no video to document what happened.
I'm so glad that your experience turned out funny. It could've been broken bones and a long recovery. And your husband nearby made all the difference. You needn't worry about covering up. Those 911 EMTs have seen everything. And they are good at covering up.
Reminded me of my calls. For over 10 years, alone, I very carefully worked my way over the lowered side of my half sunken tub hanging on for dear life as I took my morning shower. There was no way of getting up if I fell and no one to call but me without a cell phone. I installed a pool Hoyer Lift in 1992 and started using it regularly with my attendants I hired to safely take a shower. One of my first helpers, on her first try on transferring me from my wheelchair to the toilet, fell over the bathtub edge backward on her head and neck. Fortunately, she wasn't hurt and got right back up and got me to the toilet for 16 years after that without incident. I had the tub removed and made the shower roll in accessible in the early 2000s.
One day, while backing out of my van in my garage, I got caught with my rear wheel off the ramp and I was stuck. A neighbor came by and could do nothing, so I had him call 911. Six guys came and jerked my 500+ lb. electric wheelchair free. I thanked them profusely. They have come a couple of times since. Once in 2016 to take me in a stretcher to the emergency room with a blood clot and UTI, and again right in the height of Hurricane Harvey's 42 inch rainfall at my house, near midnight, looking for the smoke we smelled that turned out to be a burned-out wire, shorted by the high water of the storm in my living room wall. About 10 firemen in boots stomped around my house and couldn't find the problem, but turned off that suspicious circuit. I had to tell them to leave because I knew that others needed them more to be rescued that night from their homes rapidly being flooded out.
The firehouse is nearby and they have always arrived within 15 minutes, even during Harvey. Why I shooed them away after stomping around my house for nearly a half hour in the middle of the stormy night when I was sure they were getting other calls.
Ron
Mark