Medical emergency while camping?

[North of 49°]

Has anyone had a major medical emergency while camping? This past weekend we had one while we were camping at a campground that we go to quite often. The campground is on the outskirts of a resort town, close enough that we can walk into town for breakfast or ice cream or whatever.

This trip was no different than any other. I had a milkshake and DW had a chocolate dip cone, and we sat at a picnic table in the park while watching the world go by. When we were done, we walked back to the trailer and relaxed a bit before starting supper. As I was cutting up the potatoes, DW starts coughing and complaining of breathing problems and itchy hands, and threw up once. I asked her if she needs to go to the hospital, and she nods yes. We left the dog in the trailer with the air conditioning on and left. Fortunately, the nearest hospital was the next town over about 20 minutes away, and we knew exactly where it was.

We got there and go straight into Emergency. DW was still functional and told them she thinks she is having an allergic reaction. They took her in right away; breathing problems are one of their top priority conditions for admittance, and I stayed at admitting and gave them her information, telling them that she's allergic to peanuts and shellfish, but we haven't had anything like that. They told me to wait in the waiting room ("Rio Bravo" with John Wayne was on the TV) and said they'll let me know how things are going. About an hour later they called me in to see her. She had all sorts of tubes and wires attached to her, but she was fully conscious and feeling much better. They gave her an epinephrine shot and a Benadryl drip. Yup, it was an allergic reaction; we suspect the chocolate dip of her cone was cross contaminated with peanuts at the ice cream place, and there was just enough peanut residue in the chocolate to set it off. What fooled her is that she thought she would have a reaction right away and the symptoms would be different, but the nurse said that sometimes it takes up to an hour for them to show, and you wouldn't believe how many people come in suffering from anaphylaxis and haven't use their Epi-pen because they think it's something else.

They wanted to keep her there for three hours, so DW told me to go back to the trailer and rescue the dog, and she would call me when they release her. The doctor said that he's not writing it up as anaphylaxis or it would be a 24 hour observation. It all ended well, fortunately, but I told DW no more chocolate dip cones, and it's her responsibility to figure out where the nearest hospital to our camping destination is from now on.

[Jhowemca]

Scary... Your story reminds me of how important is it to know where the closest emergency room is while we're away from home.

I'm happy to hear you are all ok!

[Jagiven]

Glad to here your DW is fine.

We have not had a medical issue yet (knock on wood)! My DW is allergic to all legumes (peanuts are a legume). So we are very careful about eating out. My theory is if it is bad, I'll call a paramedic. If it does not appear to be an emergency, I tend to use my Google app. Most CG's know where the local medical facility is located.

[clubhouse]

Scary and sounds like you handled it well.

What I don't understand is why you didn't call 911. If you are driving to an ED 20 minutes away it's an emergency and 911 should be used in my opinion.

I work in healthcare and I don't bother locating nearest EDs when traveling, I'll leave that for the EMS driver.

[wags999]

Originally Posted by clubhouse

Scary and sounds like you handled it well.

What I don't understand is why you didn't call 911. If you are driving to an ED 20 minutes away it's an emergency and 911 should be used in my opinion.

I work in healthcare and I don't bother locating nearest EDs when traveling, I'll leave that for the EMS driver.

Just be aware that in many localities your charged for ambulance services. My neighbor was in Midway Airport in Chicago, he had a medical emergency and was charged $1600 for a ride of less than a mile. Insurance did not cover it. Also in more rural areas it will be volunteer EMS, and wait times can get extended. Glad things turned out Ok for your wife.

[norty1]

Feb. this year we were making a 3 week trip to central Fl. About a week into the trip my wife started feeling ill. She has a history of Diverticulitis. Couple day of misery, bloating, diarrhea and abdominal pain that was not getting better. In the process we moved to another campground and finally decided to drive home 8 days early after calling her doctor at home.

On the way home in the middle of nowhere our truck shut off and would not start. We had it towed to clear traffic to a vacant lot and had the truck towed to a local diesel shop.

She was still feeling bad but not bad enough to call 911. We spent the night in the camper w/ no genny while the truck was being repaired and talked with several of her docs back home.

Middle of the next day the truck was repaired and we made the trip home and straight to her doctor. After some antibiotics and other meds she felt better and got back to normal.

It was a position I never want to be in ever again. Felt helpless, no vehicle, no where to rent one, sick wife, cold, 2 dogs, nearest real hospital 50 miles away.

There are good people everywhere though. The garage owner ferried me back and forth to the trailer and even offered to tow my rig to a local cg if the truck could not be repaired the next day. Tow truck driver pulled truck and rig out of an intersection at no charge and would not even take a tip! A friend offered to drive his dually up to where we were, a 6 hour drive and tow my rig home.

[bap]

Originally Posted by clubhouse

Scary and sounds like you handled it well.

What I don't understand is why you didn't call 911. If you are driving to an ED 20 minutes away it's an emergency and 911 should be used in my opinion.

I work in healthcare and I don't bother locating nearest EDs when traveling, I'll leave that for the EMS driver.

I don't know about the OP's situation, but around here, a 20 minute drive is as quick or most times quicker than getting an EMS response from volunteer EMS services. Plus in my rural town, and many like it that we camp in, it can take close to 20 minutes to reach all parts of the town. I think he made the right choice for their situation.

[micron]

Regardless of how they got to the ER they made the right decision to go. Thankfully all ended well.
We had to take my oldest boy to an Urgent Care during one trip after he had an allergic reaction to, of all things caterpillar fuzz. He found one in our campsite and picked it up and let crawl on him. Every area it crawled on swelled up and turned bright red during the night. He woke up crying that his skin burned. The Dr. Gave him a few medications and within an hour he was fine. She told me it is a very rare thing but she had already treated two other folks who had been at the same campground with the same ailment.

[Camper_bob]

We always make it a point to locate and note the nearest emergency medical facility wherever we go.

And I agree that waiting on EMS was not the best option here. I live in a rural community as well, but our county hospital is only 6 miles away. If something happens, and the patient is stable enough to move, we're in a vehicle on the way to emergency room while on the phone (both vehicles are equipped with bluetooth and DW's car has On-Star). I can probably be at the door of the emergency room before the ambulance is even dispatched. If not stable enough to move, I'm calling 911 and my neighbor, who was a paramedic before he was a cop.

We hate to think that bad things can happen when we're out having so much fun, but you just have to do it. Have a plan in place BEFORE something happens so that when it does happen, you can ACT instead of having to think too much first.

[cpa0912]

Few years ago my brother in law chopped off a toe with an axe while chopping some wood. We were camping on beach so with airing up tires and getting to hospital it was 30 min.

[mike837go]

One of the neighbors took a spill on his quad several winters ago. Before any structures were up on the vacation home sub-division. The road was still officially "New Rd". Called 911, the ambulance corps were there in about 10 minutes.


If there is any risk to life and limb, call 911. Only if we are totally inaccessible (1/2 way up the side of a mountain) will I try anything beyond First Aid.

[Edd505]

Glad the DW is OK.
Just an aside to the emergency, I carry insurance that will get my 5W home IF I had a major issue. DW does not want to pull the trailer that far. We have practiced so she can get it off the road and parked as long as there is not heavy traffic.

[North of 49°]

In our case, DW was conscious, aware of her surroundings, and able to move on her own. We felt that we could get to the hospital far sooner than a rural ambulance service could. And we knew where the hospital was and how long it would take to get there. We feel we made the right decision under the circumstances. As it was, the hospital was very busy.

DW is very diligent about what she eats due to her allergies; this was just one of those freak occurrences.

[Kim Gass]

warning.. next time could be anaphylaxis.

Ambulance services are portable ER's. Paramedics can give you epi and benadryl and medications right in the field.
It is usually not a good idea to drive yourself. Can you do mouth to mouth while driving?

Airways aren't something to mess with. The days of the "ambulance driver" are past.

Every situation is different but sometimes its best to stay put and bring the ER to you.

I live in a rural area and in my experience the volley first aid squad is a thing of the past. Most services have paid in station staff. This is not universal but there is recognition that ALS has to start in a few minutes if needed.

[Husker1]

Having worked in the emergency services field for the past 25 years, I can tell you that there are times when you shouldn't transport a patient to the hospital yourself. As with anything, no one set of guidelines can cover all situations. I would recommend anything involving a compromised airway, potential stroke, potential heart attack, any altered mental status, and any any major trauma should be transported via ambulance. The only exception would be if I knew it would take longer for EMS to arrive than it would for the trip,to the hospital. The potential of someone collapsing while your driving to the hospital is too great. It is impossible to render aid and drive at the same time. Use your best judgement! Stay safe and happy camping!

[SmokerBill]

I had a heart PVC (pre-ventricular contraction) episode a few years ago when camping at an RV park in Salida, CO. I rode my bike up to a nearby mountain pass (about 4000 feet elevation gain, top at 12,000 feet elevation), and on the way down, I could feel my heart acting strange.

What could I do? I continued rolling my bike down the mountain and made it back to my trailer at the RV park. I didn't feel any signs of anxiousness, tightness in my chest or pain, but after checking my pulse and finding my heartbeat was regularly skipping beats, I called 911.

The ambulance showed up 10 minutes later and checked me out. I told them of my history of PVC's, they told me they didn't see any immediate danger to my health, but strongly recommended I go to the hospital to get myself checked out.

In the meantime, the park manager came over to see what the excitement was. The paramedics wanted to know if I needed to ride to the hospital in the ambulance. I asked the manager if he would take me to the hospital, and he say "sure!". He took me, and I had no charges for the ambulance.

If the paramedics thought I had more of a problem, I would have taken a ride with them, but since they weren't too worried about my condition, I didn't have a problem telling them "Thanks, but I can get to the hospital myself".

My problem was being out of shape, too much caffeine, too much exertion, and the low-oxygen air at the high elevation. Doctor at the hospital told me to cut back on the caffeine and keep doing what I was doing. Seemed to appreciate that I was exercising.

[clubhouse]

I am certainly not saying someone did anything wrong. I am saying however use 911, it's there for a reason. All this talk about response time might be valid, but in my experience most folks who "self-present" to the ED do so because they don't want to make a big deal about whatever issue they are dealing with so they forgo calling EMS. My own parents are this way. It's not about response time it's about pride.

As I said originally I work in Healthcare. Also, I live rural and understand the concern about time for EMS to arrive; but I still think it's safer and more efficient to call 911.

A driver rushing someone to the ED may very well arrive before an EMS rig can. But EMS can stabilize in the field, push meds, start fluids, perform diagnostic 12-lead EKG and forward to Cardiologist if necessary. At a minimum they will call ahead so the ED and staff is preped and waiting. EMS can determine in the field if escalated services are required over the local hospitals capability and make the choice to divert.

My local fire department is all volenteer and are dispatched to render aid on all medical calls; but so are a professional ALS EMS service. In fact staffed ambulances are staged through my the county at the ready waiting for calls. This is frequently the case is rural areas.

Don't write-off 911. They can and will save lives.

[ensign]

My daughter had an allegeric reaction. I ran to the camp office, he said phone 911, so I did.

15 minutes later a fully equipped town ambulance shows up with two people. Within minutes 5 additional people showed up.

These are all volunteers in Wall. They come when the call goes out. There was no town doctor.

The lead person happened to be a nurse who works in the children's E.R. in Rapid City, around 50 miles down the road. He was wonderful.

My daughter got fantastic care, things stabilized and no trip to the hospital was necessary.

My hats off the volunteers in Wall, these are people who left their dinner as soon as the call went out, to come to the campground. God Bless them and the city of Wall for a wonderful, fully equipped ambulance.

[BuddyRay]

I think it's important (after you call 911) to also notify the park management/rangers or whatever. They know the local area, location of, distance to and best route to medical facilities. They may also have medical resources themselves.

We were staying in Yellowstone National Park when my daughter came down with a fever. During the night it got MUCH worse. Turns out Yellowstone has a fully equipped clinic with volunteer doctors on call 24/7. They thought it might be her appendix and had a medical helicopter on standby - but a few hours on antibiotics calmed things down and all was well the next day.

My wife is a nurse and spent the night talking with the medical staff. Turns out you can volunteer to spend a week at Yellowstone. A Doctor or Nurse works 4 hours on, 20 hours on call - but can enjoy the park and their entire family can stay in the lodge for free. I'll bet quite a few national parks have deals like this.

[wags999]

You need to know whats around you when your at remote campgrounds. If you have health issues I would just ask about facilities when checking in. One campground I was working at, in a very remote area, we had an emergency. A gentleman who was getting ready to leave after spending a weekend with his kids and family, went down. We called the local volunteer FD and they came. Picked him up and headed the 60 miles to the hospital, through mountains. Air flight was not available. They barely got on there way, when the gentleman passed away. They actually brought him back and put him in the Rv till the coroner could get there, several hours later. Kinda weird but, they had no place to keep him, and the AC Rv was the best place. His kids were besides themselves, but the wife was fine. He had heart issues and several other "incidents" so, it was not a shock. He spend the last days surrounded with those he loved...and went fast...all in all not a bad way.

Bottom line, not everywhere in the country is serviced with good ambulance, EMS or health services. If health is an issue, be aware of where your going, and either accept the risks or change plans. Most times patients ae helo'd out, but unfortunately the helo was out on a call in the opposite direction. Getting to help quickly is utmost no matter how it may happen.

Like most things in life, be aware of where your at, your surroundings and yourself. Sometimes you just need to be prepared to take care of yourself, help may not always be a phone call away.