Emergency 911 at Grace Church

On Sunday a person collapsed during the middle of the worship service. The congregation was standing singing the first several verses of How Great Thou Art when I noticed Matt running toward the back of the Auditorium a few aisles over from where I was seated. I instantly figured something was wrong. I proceeded to leave my seat to make sure appropriate help was being given and if there was anything I could contribute. Since I happened to be sitting in front of an attender who works in the medical field I grabbed them by the arm (yes, I literally grabbed them and pulled them down the aisle, not sure why, but I did) and pointed them to the person in distress. While it was clear plenty of medical attention was being given to the individual, I went to make sure 911 was being called. I then waited in the driveway to meet the EMTs, with so many different entrances to our facility, we like to help them quickly identify where they need to go.

Back in the Auditorium, the service was proceeding as normal. We don't draw attention to these kinds of situations for the most part - so long as the individuals are getting appropriate care, there's not much else we can do, but keep worshipping. When the medical staff have had a chance to assess the situation and feel the patient is stabilized, they usually try to move them out of the Auditorium as quickly and discreetly as possible. This past incident, that wasn't possible, so care continued while we awaited the EMTs.

The EMTs arrived just as Pastor Scott was beginning his message. You may have wondered why he read so many verses in the scripture reading during the service, it was partly to give the EMTs time to move the patient out of the room without attracting any more attention. Before long, the patient was on their way to the hospital for further treatment and care. I'm happy to report they are recovering and they aren't experiencing anything life threatening.

We're blessed at Grace with a good number of attenders who are medical professionals who have loved ones and friends who have an amazing ability to summon them in a moments notice when medical emergencies occur. As the EMTs wheeled the patient out of the Auditorium this past week, I counted something like eight Grace attenders who had been caring for the patient while they waited for the ambulance. Our response and systems will always benefit from improvement, but by the grace of God in each emergency that's occurred to date... medical professionals have reached the patient within seconds to begin care, the injured received appropriate first aid and each patient has made a full recovery.