The Dr. Phil Tour Drama

• Whatever excitement and drama awaited me at the Dr. Phil show it was outdone in spades by events on the tour bus. I had a window seat and a pleasant older woman named Roberta, a local California resident, had the aisle. After a brief chat I turned to look out the window while she read the paper. When I looked back she appeared to be having a nap (operative words: ‘appeared to be’). The eyes in Roberta's suddenly pasty face opened slightly and she weakly whispered she was feeling faint. As I rummaged in my backpack for a water bottle, the look of concern on my face was enough to alert Donna, sitting across the aisle, that something was very wrong.

• Thankfully Donna’s emergency response training and instincts kicked in. In less than a minute, as Donna's capable fingers were searching for Roberta's pulse, the bus pulled over and a 911 operator was dispatching an ambulance. I felt – and was – quite helpless, trapped between Roberta and the window and I confess my concern turned selfish when she mumbled that she felt like throwing up. Again, thankfully, Roberta had emergency information readily available in her purse; a list of medications, a medical insurance card and an emergency contact name who was readily reached to advise our tour guide that Roberta hadn’t been feeling well the previous evening and had a history of heart trouble.
  

• Roberta’s skin became hot and clammy with sweat and her shallow ragged breathing was suddenly punctuated by a short snore; a sound known to signal heart failure. Roberta stopped breathing and no pulse could be found. I don’t know exactly what miracle Donna performed but after a few seconds - that seemed so much longer - the shallow ragged breathing started again.

• The ambulance attendants were quick to check Roberta’s vital signs and remove her from the tour bus. (We later learned that she had suffered cardiac arrest.) As my own heart continued its jackhammer pounding and I silently returned to gazing out the window, I knew that no wake-up call Dr. Phil might be offering his audience was going to match the one Roberta had just delivered.

• To be continued ……