 |  | | Patricia Hehner — Ottawa, ON |
| | | In November 2004, my husband suffered his first Addisonian crisis since diagnosis. As soon as we realized what was happening, I had used our emergency injection kit and called 911. However, I also remembered horror stories from fellow Addisonians about delays getting emergency treatment - both disbelief about the urgency and lack of information on what to do.
Luckily, I had received the Ottawa Hospital protocol a few days before. While I pulled out a copy, I was also concerned about the reaction I might receive - my experience has not always been that the medical community appreciates the patient (or family members) who want to influence medical care.
The paramedics were, as always, very comforting, but had never seen a case of Addison’s Disease. The senior person was more than interested when shown a copy of the protocol, and in accordance with it, started intravenous fluids even before reaching the hospital. He was so interested, he asked for a copy to keep permanently.
Once at the hospital, the paramedic passed the protocol to the triage nurse, who took it seriously, and had my husband in an emergency bed within minutes. And remember that the Ottawa Hospital has a typical overcrowded Emergency Room.
Next was the question of how the doctors would react. The emergency doctor indicated that, although he knew of Addison’s Disease, he had never encountered a case, and that to be provided with the protocol was tremendously helpful. Again, within a few minutes, he had implemented the case management regime (Solu-cortef IV), and in little time, my husband was already feeling better. In fact, probably less than 15 minutes elapsed between the time we arrived at the Emergency Room and the time my husband had been treated.
All in all, we were out of the hospital within 3½ hours of calling the paramedics, and most of that period was due to the time rehydration took.
I was so relieved to have the protocol available and with me. We now have multiple copies with the emergency kit my husband carries with him, and the extra kit in our cupboard. We also have a copy of the Protocol in French, and have had a copy translated into Portuguese (to take with us on an upcoming vacation).
I cannot urge each of you strongly enough to make copies of this protocol and keep it handy. It was indeed a very powerful tool.
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