I wonder if the recession is affecting emergency responders. The other night, while working at the theater, I returned from break to find a young couple sitting in the lobby of the building. The woman, who was in her late 20s, was on the phone. The man, also in his late 20s, was sitting on a bench next to her. Both had tears in their eyes.

My initial reaction was that they had just heard the news of a loved one’s death, so I left them to grieve privately; it wasn’t my business. I can’t pinpoint how long they were there, but it had been about 3-5 minutes since I returned to the lobby.
 
It was at this time that she calmly walked up to me. I was expecting her to ask me for a refund. Instead, she softly said, “Do you guys have an AED (automated external defibrillator.  Thanks Custom Briefings and American College of Cardiology).” I told her that we do not. She then asked, “Could you please dial 911? He’s having severe chest pains.” For a split second, I thought to myself, “Is she serious? Why isn’t she freaking out?”
 
Anyway, I radioed the manager so he could call from the movie theater’s land line. And, it was a good thing I did. Our manager is a nice guy, but he totally became flustered when the pressure was on. He blanked on both the address and the phone number of the theater. Fortunately the dispatcher had them both on hand because he called from the land line.

He then made his way over to the couple, and was talking to the dispatcher. About 2 minutes had passed. The dispatcher was asking about the severity of the pains, where the pains were, if he was stressed out, if he had eaten, etc. Another 2 minutes had passed. Then, the manager handed the phone to the man with chest pains. They spent another 3 minutes going over his symptoms.
 
It felt like an eternity. Nine minutes had passed. It seemed like the dispatcher was making sure that he was really having a problem before dispatching the EMTs. Now, it could be that the dispatcher notified the EMTs and kept talking to him. But, it really didn’t feel that way based on his responses. After about 7 minutes (total), he told his wife that they were sending EMTs. (This is why I believe they weren’t dispatched up to this point.)

He hung up, and waited. About 2 more minutes (now 11 minutes total) had gone by when I saw the flashing lights outside. It took about 30 seconds for the EMTs to get out of the ambulance, and when they did, they casually walked in; like they were just coming from the gym. Don’t ask why I thought that because I really don’t know. It might have been how they were carrying their bags.
 
Once they did reach him, getting him on the stretcher and loaded into the ambulance did not take long at all. It was a matter of seconds before they were gone. In that time, a small crowd had amassed. People are very nosy. One guy was standing there watching this whole thing unfold while eating popcorn. I know this was a serious moment, and I really hope the guy is okay, but I have to admit, seeing the guy lounging there eating popcorn like he was watching a movie was kinda funny.

Anyhow, with the way the thing was handled, I was wondering if emergency responders now have to make sure that an emergency is a real emergency before dispatching help in an effort to deal with shrinking budgets. Eleven minutes is an eternity, especially when you can’t do anything to help.

The fire station is located about one mile from the location of the theater, which according to Google should take about three minutes, which doesn’t factor in traffic lights. It would probably take a normal person about 10 minutes, with lights and traffic. It took about 4-5 minutes (assuming they left around the time when he told his wife they were on their way). So, again, I don’t know when they were dispatched. But, if they had been at the beginning of the call, they would have been there long before the guy hung up the phone.

Don’t get me wrong, I commend the EMTs for helping this guy, and I understand if they have to make sure it really is an emergency. I’m not making a case for or against. All I’m doing is observing. But, I’ll tell you what, I would have felt better if they ran inside like they do on TV. A sense of urgency would have made me feel better.