If there's an emergency, a hospital would leave a voicemail, right?

biomaj5 · March 2012

I just had a missed call from the hospital closest to my mom's house (she lives 2.5 hrs away). They didn't leave a voicemail. My mom didn't answer her cell. It's early, so she's probably asleep.

Please tell me that a hospital would leave some kind of a voicemail if there were a problem and that I shouldn't panic. I'm leaning towards panic right now.

Excitedtostart · March 2012

Yes, we leave messages. But you could always call the ER directly and ask if anyone was trying to get in touch with you.

biomaj5 · March 2012

They said that they have no way of telling who called me. I still can't get ahold of my mom. I'm going to keep calling her every few minutes until she answers me. I'm really starting to get upset.

Excitedtostart · March 2012

If they didn't want to talk to you then I doubt they were trying to reach you. When people call back, if we're really trying to get you, we'll talk to you.

Don't freak, your mom is probably out talking to a neighbor or something equally innocuous.

biomaj5 · March 2012

I really hope you're right. I've called both the cell and landline a combo of 15 times now.

nikisnow · March 2012

I hope your mom is just sleeping and everything is ok!

Excitedtostart · March 2012

I would wait 15 minutes. Get up, take a shower, then try her again. She may be in the shower herself, or she ran to the store to get some milk and left her cell inthe car or at home.

Chapter79 · March 2012

I would imagine they would try you again, or would have left a voicemail.

Unsettling, though, for sure. Hopefully your mom is just busy!

biomaj5 · March 2012

She is old. She probably either left it on silent or can't hear it because she's going deaf (mom turns 65 this year). Maybe if I call the landline and leave a lot of yelling on the voicemail, it'll get the dogs riled up enough to wake her up with their barking.

She mentioned something about how she's been going to work at 3am (she works in a restaurant, and she's sort of OCD about cleaning the kitchen. I guess that's good. She also makes the pies.)

sevans1975 · March 2012

biomaj5:

She is old. She probably either left it on silent or can't hear it because she's going deaf (mom turns 65 this year). Maybe if I call the landline and leave a lot of yelling on the voicemail, it'll get the dogs riled up enough to wake her up with their barking.

She mentioned something about how she's been going to work at 3am (she works in a restaurant, and she's sort of OCD about cleaning the kitchen. I guess that's good. She also makes the pies.)

I'm kind of LOL-ing that 65 is old.

But yeah, I do the same thing w/ my dad if I can't get a hold of him. I keep calling until he answers and/or give a time limit to myself, "If I haven't heard back from him by such & such, I will go over there!"

Edited to fix wording.

biomaj5 · March 2012

sevans1975:
biomaj5:

She is old. She probably either left it on silent or can't hear it because she's going deaf (mom turns 65 this year). Maybe if I call the landline and leave a lot of yelling on the voicemail, it'll get the dogs riled up enough to wake her up with their barking.

She mentioned something about how she's been going to work at 3am (she works in a restaurant, and she's sort of OCD about cleaning the kitchen. I guess that's good. She also makes the pies.)

I'm kind of LOL-ing that 65 is old.

But yeah, I do the same thing w/ my dad if I can't get a hold of him. I keep calling until he answers and/or give a time limit to myself, "If I haven't heard back from him by such & such, I will go over there!"

Edited to fix wording.

But she is old! lol. She lives 2.5 hrs away; I wish I could just run right over there. It's been an hour since they called me. If I don't get in contact with her by noon, I'll probably leave work. There's no reason for her not to answer the phone at noon.

biomaj5 · March 2012

I called the hospital back and they said she hasn't been admitted and she's not in the ER. So that's a relief. I'd feel much better if she'd answer the phone though.

Excitedtostart · March 2012

Also, if they *really* wanted to get a hold of you, they would.

If we need to get in touch with family and the person can't communicate with us, we go through their cell phones looking for numbers, date books, purses, etc. I even called American Express once because a patient had an Amex card. I told them that it was an emergency that they get in touch with a relative (spouse). I didn't give them any health information, and they didn't give me any personal information that they had on the patient. I gave them my name and phone number (the ER) and within 20 minutes the patients wife called. She was very confused as to why her husbands credit card was calling her to tell her to call me!

So, if they were really trying to get in touch with you, they would.

This is also why I love Amex.

biomaj5 · March 2012

Excitedtostart:
Also, if they *really* wanted to get a hold of you, they would.

If we need to get in touch with family and the person can't communicate with us, we go through their cell phones looking for numbers, date books, purses, etc. I even called American Express once because a patient had an Amex card. I told them that it was an emergency that they get in touch with a relative (spouse). I didn't give them any health information, and they didn't give me any personal information that they had on the patient. I gave them my name and phone number (the ER) and within 20 minutes the patients wife called. She was very confused as to why her husbands credit card was calling her to tell her to call me!

So, if they were really trying to get in touch with you, they would.
This is also why I love Amex.

That's very reassuring. Thank you. I normally am quite happy to live 2.5 hrs away from my mom (we don't always get along very well), but this scenario has been my nightmare for quite a while. If something happens, there's no one down there that I can call to check on her. I know 65 isn't really that old, but her health isn't the best.

gogadgetgo · March 2012

I hope you talk to her soon! {{hugs}}

Excitedtostart · March 2012

I'm sure she turned the volume off on her phone and is sleeping in, especially if she worked until 3 am.

When you talk to her, ask her if there's a friend or neighbor whose number you can have for days like today.

biomaj5 · March 2012

OMG. She finally called me back. She went to work at 5am and left her phone at home. She just got home and called me immediately. I started crying. I'm so glad she's ok.

Excitedtostart · March 2012

Glad she's okay!

Lyssapee · March 2012

Glad she is ok. Strange the hospital called you.

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If there's an emergency, a hospital would leave a voicemail, right?

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