My parents were out to dinner and as they were leaving, my mom was having trouble breathing. Dad suggested they stop at the ambulatory care center, which was on their way home. They thought it might have been something with her asthma. In the six or seven minutes it took them to drive there, my mom passed away. She had apparently been having a heart attack. I will always err on the side of caution and get professionals involved sooner rather than later.
^^^
so sorry to hear about the loss of your mom.
I don’t know if calling 911 would have gotten your mom to emergency care any quicker.
When my mom was found on the floor unresponsive (but still breathing), I was shocked to not only see how long it took for the paramedics to get there, but how long it took them to simply get into the house! I remember standing at the doorway and saying, "hurry, please hurry, and yet they just kind of sauntered in as if they were coming for a visit.
I literally wanted to grab them and drag them in!
I guess I imagined a more “drama response” of them rushing in with their bags/equipment. They certainly knew that they were responding to a call about a breathing but unresponsive person found on the floor.
@Jam113, so sorry about the death of your mom. I’m sure that weighs on your dad and family. I’m glad she enjoyed her nice dinner out with him before she died. In some ways, a quick death is MUCH better for the patient (though hard on the survivors). If I were to have a choice, I’d like to go happily in my sleep after a nice, full day and life.
^^^That’s my plan.
JAM113, so sorry to hear about your mom. It’s hard to deal with such a sudden loss. Women’s heart attack symptoms are different from men’s, and I had never realized until it happened to me.
mom2collegekids, DH and S2 both said it took the paramedics forever to actually get into the house when I had my cardiac arrest. They were both pretty upset about it. DH said they also took their sweet time unloading me at the ER (despite the fact that S2 did CPR until the medics got there and then they defibrillated me because I was flatlining). DH felt meant that they didn’t think I was going to make it.
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mom2collegekids, DH and S2 both said it took the paramedics forever to actually get into the house when I had my cardiac arrest. They were both pretty upset about it. DH said they also took their sweet time unloading me at the ER (despite the fact that S2 did CPR until the medics got there and then they defibrillated me because I was flatlining).
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And, I know how frightened they were seeing them “take their sweet time”. It’s surreal. You expect them to hustle!!
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DH felt meant that they didn't think I was going to make it.
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Shame on them! Thank goodness you survived! 
A couple of years ago, a friend of our son’s stopped by our house to say hi. She was on her way home from work. Our son had told her we were night owls and she didn’t believe him! It was around midnight. All of a sudden, she fell on the floor and started convulsing! We called 911 right away. I called her mom, but she wasn’t terribly interested. I ended up riding in the ambulance with the girl. The mother finally showed up, but the girl really didn’t want to see her. So sad!
Later we realized how fortunate it was that she stopped at our house. If she hadn’t, she would have still been driving when she had her seizure.
The young lady later married an army guy. She had a baby last year. She just turned 21 and is divorcing her husband. I can hardly stand to think about it.
When I was in college, I got a call from my parents. They were spending a long weekend in the mountains 2 hours away from any major hospital. My Dad, who was never in the best of health, had had some medical tests done the week prior. While vacationing, the doctors called my Dad, told him his potassium level was precarious, he needed to come to the hospital immediately - he was at risk of death. The call to me involved a debate between my parents - they wanted my opinion/decision. My Dad wanted to drive straight to the hospital. My Mom wanted to drive home first, to change, get overnight bags, etc., {which would have added an additional hour, at the least, to the overall drive to the hospital). To this day, I don’t know why that question was ever asked. My vote, of course, was to drive straight to the hospital, which they did. Dad was hospitalized and all went well that visit . He did pass a few years later from a massive heart attack.
sometimes when you make those calls like hanally’s parents got ,you as a provider have to say ‘do not go home or stop anywhere to shop or eat. etc’. for some reason people just don’t get emergencies.