When Fear in Mexico is Real

There are so many posts about crime and safety in Mexico that are just a waste of bandwidth. The following is something that most of us never consider. We are back in Canada. Although we live in the country I spend 3 days a week in a rented Condo in the city. I awoke Thursday am and did not feel "right". But like a typical guy I just wrote it off to being indigestion. I sat there for about 10 minutes and then quickly drove the 5 minutes to a hospital. In seconds I was hooked up to an EKG machine. An ambulance was waiting to take me to another hospital with a Cath Lab. I was given Nitro and some other meds. The ambulance was state of the art with constant communication to the lab via telemetry. Another 5 minute ride and I was on the table. Multiple blockages. Once stabilized stents were inserted. Although I am a huge critic of our Canadian Socialized Medical System I had to eat my words. The Drs., Nurses and Paramedics were amazing. I was released on Saturday but will have to return in a few weeks for additional stents. I am not supposed to be doing any work: Mental or physical but I am going to try some office work for maybe an hour a day. This morning I started to think about how this would have transpired if I was still in Kino. We are fortunate to have a lot of retired firefighters and paramedics in Kino. There is a first responders group but at this time of the year most are NOB. Cruz Roja has an ambulance. One of those Sprinter Vans. Equipped with NADA! The oxygen tanks are usually empty. The battery in the ambulance is usually dead( or has been stolen) and often there is no fuel. The attendants do their best but the training is minimal. The drive to a hospital in Hermosillo is one hour plus. Unless something has changed there are no EKG machines in Kino. I probably would have died or suffered a massive heart attack/stroke. Everyone should assess the emergency facilities in your Mexican community. Larger centres like Maz or PV may not have state of the art equipment but they can handle this type of emergency. Smaller communities may have nothing. In Canada and the USA small communities may not have the latest and greatest but they have ambulances with all that is needed to safely get you to a proper facility. Remote areas are covered with air ambulances. Being as most forum members are of an age where heart problems are not unusual everyone should find out what happens in an emergency. Who do you call? Where will they take you? Is the ambulance always ready to go? Is it equipped? Are the attendants trained? Your life may depend on the answers. Please excuse some of my technical terms. This is all new to me.

Moisheh