Time to Say Good-bye
Date: June 20, 2008

The hospice nurse called with the inevitable news and a question: Sarah, sick for so long, would likely pass from this life in the next few hours. Could John, Sarah’s husband, see her one last time?

John was a patient on the fourth floor at Floyd Medical Center and in poor health himself. A stroke left him without the use of his right side and unable to speak clearly. He was at Floyd until his case manager and family could find a nursing home for him. John was approved by his physician for a temporary visit home, and physician liaison Sue Wright was charged with trying to make it happen. Sue called Diane Powell, resource nurse for the Emergency Care Center and Neurosciences, to see if arrangements could be made for a non-emergency transport for John to see his wife before she died.

Whether you call it serendipity, fate or divine intervention, the stars aligned for this special opportunity. When Sue called, Diane was talking with Joan Minten and Daniel Helton, Floyd EMS employees, who had just brought a patient to the ECC. There is no NET service on weekends, and John didn’t have insurance or assistance to pay for the trip, but Joan told Diane she was certain her captain, Dan Trimble, could get approval.

“Bud goes out of his way for a lot of families, especially when they are deserving,” Joan said of EMS Director Bud Owens. “He likes to help out the community very much.”

Dan told Diane, Joan and Daniel to go ahead and get the patient ready for his trip home.

“He said that if he didn’t get this patient home, Bud would string him up by his toenails,” Diane said.

Bud approved this non-standard request and met the ambulance at John and Sarah’s home.

It took a little work, but we got him in there beside her so she could visit with him,” Joan said. “John has weakness on one side, so we arranged him so he could touch her. He needed to touch her. He needed to see her. When he talked to her and touched her, she stirred and recognized him. She knew he was there.”

Sarah died the next day, and once again, John’s team of caregivers rallied on his behalf, arranging for a non-emergency transport with Eric Crider and Mark Amick for him to his wife’s funeral.

“They were a very nice family, and so thankful that we could bring him,” Joan said. “One of them said something about Floyd billing them, but Bud said, ‘No, this is not one of those circumstances. Anybody would have been willing to bring him.”

While that may be true, Diane recognized that helping John say his final goodbyes is a heart-warming example of care that goes well beyond expectations.

“Floyd EMS made a lot of friends that day,” Diane said. “This was pro bono. It was the good thing to do. It was the right thing to do. And, Bud Owens definitely lived up to his reputation. He made sure the right thing was done.”

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