A Necessity

When I mention this word, readers may think of food, water, work, children, exercise...But I am using it literally. Let me tell you what happened last week to one of my friends and you will immediately guess which necessity of life I have in mind.

My friend, Mary--not real name--was vacationing in Florida and was lounging at the beach with her daughter and granddaughter. A beautiful beach where it's so good to relax. Her husband and a neighbor, Rose, were swimming in the ocean.

Suddenly Mary clasped her chest and flipped from the chair, hardly able to gasp, and muttered a weak, “Help me.” Her eyes opened wide and her mouth twitched to one side, but she couldn’t breathe.Her daughter saw her falling to the sand, panicked and screamed. “Mom! Help! Help my mother, please help, us.” She ran to the ocean, made big gestured and called her father and neighbor, who came right away.

While the husband was crying and patting his wife’s hand, Rose called 911 and asked if anyone could do mouth-to mouth resuscitation until the ambulance arrived. She wasn’t an expert on it, but was willing to do anything to save her friend. A male neighbor, Rob, said he’s taken a class and was going to try.

Meanwhile the ambulance called. They were stuck behind an open bridge and it would take them ten minutes to arrive--way too long to save a heart-attack case. They wanted to coach someone on emergency tips to keep the patient alive. Rose repeated out loud the instructions given by the paramedics and Rob followed them to the letter. She also asked if anyone in the building had a portable oxygen machine. Retirees represent a good percentage of South Florida population. Sure enough, a couple of senior citizens provided their oxygen machines.

Eventually, the paramedics showed up on the beach with their full equipment and took over, transferring Mary to a stretcher and doing the necessary, loading her with tubes and electrodes, before rushing to the hospital and the OR for an open-heart surgery.

Without the mouth-to mouth resuscitation-- a necessity of life that we should all learn to be able to save a loved one-- and Rose’s cool assessment of the situation, Mary wouldn’t be alive today.

Would you be able to save your loved one if needed? How would you react to an emergency situation?

A kid drowning in a pool?

A car accident?

The beginning of a fire? I have been through a kitchen fire. My son saved us by calling 911, grabbing a fire extinguisher, and putting off the fire while the firefighters were on their way.

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Ignoring his father and his senatorial campaign, Attorney Josh refuses to have her for a fake fiancée and teams up with her dog Rino to protect her.