The E.R. Bag

In my old job at Country Club College, part of the job was being on-call. Being on-call meant that you were the person to respond to emergencies for the university and deal with police, parents, hospitals, etc as needed. I was used to getting middle of the night phone calls and running out the door at a moments notice.

I could write a book about my five years of on-call experiences. People would think it was fiction, but it would all be true. By my last year on that job the night crew at the local ER knew me by name, that is how often I was there. And I learned a lot from that job, including to have an ER bag. What is an ER bag? A bag of provisions set out the day you go on call that includes:

• magazines or a book or both
• cell phone charger
• water bottle
• granola bar or cereal bar
• change for the vending maching
• hoodie

So last weekend, in the middle of the night, I had to take my Dad to the ER. He is fine, turns out the ankle that was three times it’s normal size and shooting pain from his foot to his knee was gout. Apparently that is a real thing in the 21st century. As I was frantically throwing on jeans at 2am and worried what was wrong with my Dad (didn’t know it was gout until about 4am) I managed to toss together a quick ER bag… with Glamour, Southern Living, my Ipad, cell phone charger, a granola bar and a St.Patrick’s Day hoodie. I was awake, dressed, ER bag made and out the door in less than four minutes… some habits just don’t go away.

This side of suburbia just got a new hospital less than four miles from my Dad’s house and it is NICE. I mean, they have a glass wall water feature in the waiting room and digital screens all over the place. Once my Dad got settled, I pulled out my ER bag- my Dad’s cell was dead and I immediately was hungry. The nurses, who were all awesome, were all impressed. So, I made new friends! Hope I don’t need to go back anytime soon! But if you have to go to the ER as support person… it is best to be prepared!

This story does continue to get more entertaining though. My Dad runs a restaurant and on Saturdays they often work with local groups to hold pancake breakfasts as fundraisers for whatever charity it is. That morning happened to be a pancake breakfast that my Dad had, absolutely HAD, to run. There were no other people to fill in. But, he wasn’t exactly in any shape to run a restaurant at that point. So at 5:40am there I was learning how to open a restaurant. Another funny story to put in my book someday!