Our first 911 Experience

February 26th.  A day to remember.  The day every parent hopes will never come. We had our first encounter with paramedics being called.  

Ernie had his last game before the playoffs, which he won, and big E was still fishing.  I went to get gas.  My kids love to help.  And every once in a while I will let them assist me. I told Ernie that he could help me take the pump out when the gas was finished pumping. Right as it finished, my sister in law called and I turned to answer the phone. And so I turned my back to him.  My fault, I know.  As he pulled the gas pump out, the lever was still pulled up and it sprayed all over him. I mean ALL over him.  It went straight into his face, including his eyes.  He started screaming, with good reason.  I immediately started to poor water in them to help wash it out, unsure of what else to do.  

The gas attendant came running out in a major panic and yelled that she had called 911.  Of course, that put Ernie in an even worse state because he was more worried about having to go to the hospital than anything else.  I was trying so hard to remain calm, while completely freaking out inside.  A sweet man next to us came over and suggested that Ernie hold his eyes open rather than  hold them shut to help the air get in them.  To which Ernie sweetly replied, "Thank you so much sir" in between sobs. I still kept silently praying that I could just stay calm because the gas attendant was frantic enough for everyone, which just made Ernie more and more upset. Then another guy came over who worked with chemicals and was able to help tell me what to do to help him.  He didn't think 911 was even necessary, but it was a little late at that point :).  

By the time the paramedics get there, Ernie was still having a hard time letting me wash it out like I should.  So it was nice that they were there to help him stay calm and figure out how to wash it out.  

WOW! That is all I can say.  It was quite the day.  I am grateful for a few things though.  First, that it ended up being okay and was not as serious as I originally thought when the lady came out yelling.  Second, I learned a huge lesson about how important it is to remain calm.  If I had started freaking out, it would have made the entire situation MUCH worse.  A calm head makes everything so much easier.  And ever since then, I have made a much greater effort to always try to remain calm. 

And I am also grateful that after 5 washes, I was able to get the gas smell out of all of our clothes and shoes.

  

(And in case any of you ever need to know: My mother in law is always right.  Coke cures everything.  I read online to wash the clothes in coke.  And After 3 washes in everything else I could imagine, coke did the trick.  One more wash with regular soap, and they were good to go!)