SV! Day 20

Tuesday 8 July 2014

We did laundry and ate pineapple. I finished reading Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance by Stephen HERRERO. Basically it all comes down to this: bears need about 20,000 calories a day so don't bother them.

I went to TR's evening program. He lets me help get the fire going and he lets me count the visitors for the stats report. Early in the program he and I, skewed by our we-live-in-Yellowstone perspective, both thought we heard an audience member yell, "Elk!" Sometimes wildlife will attend evening programs. However, what they really yelled was, "Help!" A woman in the audience was having a seizure. K got on his radio and said (with the microphone still on), "Seven hundred, seven hundred, two Lima three one top notch emergency." Top notch is not code for anything...it's just the repeater they use for radios in that area of the park--they have to say "top notch" every time they call on the radio. He reported the seizure, EMS copied, and K said to the audience, "Help is on the way." He was wondering why his radio was echoing so that's when he remembered to turn the mike off. The woman is 34 and diabetic. She has a history of seizures but because she hadn't had one in over a year, her doctor had just taken her off the medication to help prevent them. The audience remained quiet and calm and patient. K told them that if they needed to leave, he understood. Nobody left. He walked around chatting with people and answering questions while EMS assessed. The woman was able to walk on her own to the ambulance with her husband by her side and K went on with the show after receiving clearance.

It's a small thing, but I was just so proud of him! His calm presence was an influence on all 131 folks there! He handled everything professionally, beautifully, and efficiently. Even the EMS guy complimented him on arrival by saying, "You called that in perfectly!" One of his supervisors emailed his boss about it even. At the end of the program K said, "Have a good evening and thanks for stickin' with me!" Love him.