In prison as in anyplace else, a medical situation can develop at any time...
And that's what happened this evening.
I had the night off, as we don't have a Bible study scheduled for Tuesdays. So I was in my cell, when at 6 o'clock, two correction officers suddenly showed up, and one of them said, "Berkowitz, we need you to take a man to the Infirmary in his wheelchair because he's not feeling good."
As a "mobility assistant," I have to help handicap inmates get in and out of their wheelchairs whenever necessary. In this case the man was unable to walk. He looked to be in bad shape, and was unable to talk as well. He also appeared to be in a mental fog, awake but unresponsive. I was however able to guide him into his wheelchair as the officers helped to keep the chair steady.
So off we went with me pushing his chair as the officers walked alongside us. We then entered the Infirmary where several nurses met us. And while the officers went into the nurses station with him, I had to stay in the waiting area to see what was going to happen next.
Either they were going to put the patient in the Infirmary for the evening, and leave him there overnight until the facility's doctor comes and checks up on him in the morning, or they were going to call for an ambulance and send him to an outside hospital.
While I waited for their decision I was silently praying for this man. And after about an hour, the officers came and told me that the medical staff called for an ambulance. They said it appears he suffered a stroke. Therefore, it was time for me to return to my unit.
I definitely did a lot of praying while I was in the waiting area. From the look of things, he did not look good.
D.B.
I had the night off, as we don't have a Bible study scheduled for Tuesdays. So I was in my cell, when at 6 o'clock, two correction officers suddenly showed up, and one of them said, "Berkowitz, we need you to take a man to the Infirmary in his wheelchair because he's not feeling good."
As a "mobility assistant," I have to help handicap inmates get in and out of their wheelchairs whenever necessary. In this case the man was unable to walk. He looked to be in bad shape, and was unable to talk as well. He also appeared to be in a mental fog, awake but unresponsive. I was however able to guide him into his wheelchair as the officers helped to keep the chair steady.
So off we went with me pushing his chair as the officers walked alongside us. We then entered the Infirmary where several nurses met us. And while the officers went into the nurses station with him, I had to stay in the waiting area to see what was going to happen next.
Either they were going to put the patient in the Infirmary for the evening, and leave him there overnight until the facility's doctor comes and checks up on him in the morning, or they were going to call for an ambulance and send him to an outside hospital.
While I waited for their decision I was silently praying for this man. And after about an hour, the officers came and told me that the medical staff called for an ambulance. They said it appears he suffered a stroke. Therefore, it was time for me to return to my unit.
I definitely did a lot of praying while I was in the waiting area. From the look of things, he did not look good.
D.B.