Emergency Response in Thief River Falls...

I was hoping I wouldn't have reason to find out what the response time is for 9-1-1 in Thief River for at least the first year, but come last Friday, that went by the wayside. I had to call the ambulance Daniel. He had gotten up off the couch in the living room and was wearing those nylon kind of warm-up pants and had to go potty. He ran through the dining room on his way to the bathroom pulling his pants down as he went, covering his stocking feet in slippery nylon on the hardwood floor. Next thing I know, I hear a resounding crack on what sounded like the doorjam of the entrance to the kitchen followed by a bloodcurdling wail. On the bright side, I learned emergency response time here is every bit as good as Seattle's, which isn't bad when you consider Seattle's Medic One program set the standard worldwide for response time. The police were here at the house in between 20-30 seconds....all five or so officers (They were only a block and a half away when they heard the medical dispatch). They beat the ambulance, which wasn't too far behind. Ambulance services are now provided by Great Plains EMS, a private outfit. I carried him out to the ambulance for a head injury evaluation and got an all clear from the paramedic. I was just concerned becuse it swelled up to a pretty big size knot within only a minute or two of the injury and didn't know if there could be more extensive damage underneath, i.e. a subdural hematoma, given the force of impact. In any event, we all enjoyed the excitement and Daniel got a nice fuzzy blue stuffed bunny rabbit out of the whole ordeal. All's well that ends well... One other thing we found out is a former police officer's sister was one of the previous owners of the house we live in.

We spent the weekend getting some implements for working in the yard including a Garden Weasel. I'm thinking we'll plant a flower bed in the bare area of the backyard and reserve a space down one side of it for some spinach, garlic, and herbs. Seems like Martha Stewart has overtaken the entire garden section at Kmart. Incarceration does wonders for sales these days, ya know... :o)

We also took a trip up to the 80 acres and found there' s lots of mounds of dirt that have sprung up all over the field, so gopher trapping should be good this summer.

As for church this Sunday, we didn't see Ormand Johnson and we're all pretty concerned how he's getting along these days. Come Wednesday we have our combined choir practice at Zion. I met the "Samuelsons" at morning coffee yesterday. They were having a going away for the Johnstons (not sure of the first names) who are moving to Warroad.