Very bad day at work...

Let me start with I am the executive director an active adult retirement community for seniors. We are not an assisted living community nor are we a nursing home.

Today we have a resident who did not come down for lunch. I also called her because she had a package delivered but she did not answer the phone. My bus driver takes her package to her apartment and she does not answer the door. However...he can hear that her television is on. He came back to the office and told me about her not answering the door. We grabbed her apartment key and went to do what we call a wellness check.

I got over there with Larry and confirmed that indeed her television was on. We tried to unlock her front door to enter her apartment to check on her, but her keyless deadbolt was on. I knew immediately that this was a bad sign. We knocked loudly on her door and rang her doorbell just to be sure that she wasn't sleeping. Then I called my maintenance director to come break the door down. After 10 minutes we were able to break the deadbolt and get into the apartment. I entered her apt and saw her laying in the bedroom floor. Thank goodness she at least moving.

By this time I had already called 911 on my cell phone so I was able to tell them that she was alive, but that she needed medical assistance. She was totally naked...not a stitch of clothing on. I covered her up quickly with a small blanket that was on her bed so she would not be cold and so that I could save a little of her dignity. The paramedics were on their way, but I sat there with her telling the 911 operator that she could not speak, but that she could understand what I was saying to her. She understood me when I told her to not try and get up. Her breathing was very labored but there was no blockage in her mouth. I did everything that the 911 operator asked me to do.

I held her hand while we waited for the paramedics came to help her. I told her not to worry...that I was with her and that the paramedics were on their way. She kept writhing her body as if she were in a lot of pain. There was nothing that I could do except hold her hand and talk to her until the paramedics came.

This was the first time in over a year as the executive director that I have had to deal with this type of situation. My sense of what to do just kicked in and I did what I had to do. It wasn't until after they took her in the ambulance that I broke down and cried. I am so grateful that she is alive, but we still don't know how long she had laid there on the floor of her bedroom...in pain and alone. I am so glad that my bus driver trusted his instinct and wanted to do a wellness check. Praise God for putting us there for her today...she needed us.