I woke up on
Saturday morning with a load of ambition...and didn’t waste a minute! Despite the heat, I cleaned out a shed, painted
over some mildew spots, rearranged part of the garage (to make room for the
clutter from the shed), sorted part of a closet inside, did some laundry, ran
to Rochester to pick up a few things at the store, listed some stuff on Craigslist
(anyone want car ramps??), and dealt with some rust on my trailer hitch. Whew!
As the sun started to go down I headed out on a run to get me ready for
Friday night’s Eyota Days 5K.
I knew from
the start that it would be a hot and muggy run and I wasn’t disappointed. About halfway into the race my hands started
to tingle, feeling like I’d rubbed them against some wild parsnip. A little while later my face felt the same
way. I wondered what I’d gotten into…and
I kept running (and sweating). By the
time I got home my feet began to tingle as well and I felt a bit ‘off.’ I quickly guzzled a couple of glasses of
water as I felt more and more woozy. Soon
I got too dizzy to stand up. Shannon and
Ben raced to get ice on me to cool me down but didn’t have much luck. Ben did a quick Google search for ‘Heat Stroke’
and read off the symptoms. I had most of
them. I’d done too much…with way too
little water. My body rebelled. The website was clear…call 911.
A short time
later three of Eyota’s wonderful volunteer EMTs were at my side, giving me
oxygen and checking my pulse. They had
the training to help me improve. By the
time they left I was on the mend, able to stand once again (though a bit
shaky).
Being a
volunteer EMT is not glamorous work. It
takes many hours of training…and countless hours of being on call. Emergencies interrupt family time and sleep
time. Pagers go off at all hours. It takes a serious commitment!
The three men
who came to my house did God’s work on Saturday night. They gave of their time
to help someone in need (me!). I
certainly appreciate it!
Peace is
blessed to have three members of the Eyota Ambulance in our midst (Laurie
Mickow and Scott & Carla Brunsvold).
While their work at Peace is always appreciated, they daily serve God by
serving the community. Thank you to
Laurie, Scott & Carla…and all those who give of their time to help the
people of Eyota in times of need.
Whether you realize it or not, you do God’s work!