Emergency Room

Around 11:45p.m., my husband and I were awakened by the ring of the phone. A friend, and fellow church member, had just died of a massive heart attack. Twenty-five minutes later, we walked into the Emergency Room of the local hospital.

The room was packed with the members of about three families. The wife, of the deceased, had been sedated. Her blood pressure shot up to a dangerous point, and she was incoherent. As the family grieved for their dad, they were fearful that they could lose their mom, too.

We were there to provide any comfort or help that was needed, but things were frenetic with the doctors coming out to question the family about where they were to send the body and others coming to give updated reports on their mother.

In the midst of all of this, there was a sudden exodus from the room. People were running outside, questioning what was going on. A nurse came through the ER with a police officer. He ran out with his hand on his gun. There was a fight in the parking lot and one of the men was swinging a knife. Within moments, police were everywhere. A nurse came to inform us that if we were not family members of a patient, we should go home. They were about to put the ER on lock-down.

At that moment, it struck me that Emergency Rooms are places where emotions are likely to run high. People are often fearful, confused, and tired. This altercation seemed bazaar to us, but I wondered if it was really unusual for the hospital staff. It seemed that emergencies came in various forms around the ER.

The family we visited was grieving, but they felt no sense of emergency for their father. They knew that he’d had a close walk with the Lord, and he was experiencing pure joy at that point. Perhaps, the only true emergency is when one doesn’t make preparation for his final trip. When the moment of death comes, it is too late to decide. If the destination isn’t considered before that time, there are no options left, and that’s an emergency!