Carole Toy and her mother, Bertha Chew
On December 19, my son, my 89-year-old mother, and I had just arrived at
the Queen to visit a friend in the ICU. We‘d almost gotten to her
room when my mom suddenly sank to the floor, unconscious. Rose Marie de
Vera, sitting at the nurse’s station, rushed over and called for
help. Within about 10 seconds, there were eight people working on her
– doing CPR, chest compressions, pulling crash carts and then applying
the paddles. One doctor took charge and gave orders, and everyone else
did their job like clockwork.
We later learned she’d had a cardiac arrest. If it had happened anywhere
else – even at the front of the hospital – the response time
would have taken much longer. The other amazing thing is that my mom collapsed
directly in front of a vacant ICU room, where they could continue working
on her. She was in the ICU for a couple of days, but because Mom was insured
with a different healthcare system, when stable she was transferred to
another hospital for her procedure. We didn’t want to leave the
Queen, though. Everyone was so kind and helpful. The fact that it happened
where it did was a Christmas miracle!