People Describe What They Would Do If Nuclear Attack Sirens Went Off In The Middle Of The Night
Imagine being woken up in the middle of the night to a distress call?
For those of us who have never been in these situations, Redditor TheBestMoronEver wondered:
"If you heard nuclear sirens go off in the middle of the night how would you react?"
These Redditors had a casual response.
Nonplussed
"Probably curse about the damned tornado sirens going off again, and rolling over to go back to sleep."
– KaliCalamity
White Noise
"My area sets off the sirens if we have a severe thunderstorm warning, so nobody really pays much attention to them any more."
– notthesedays
Please Identify
"Since I don't know what a nuclear siren sounds like I would probably say, 'What is that?'"
– BlueRFR3100
Here are some unexpected responses.
Healed
"Well I'm deaf, so first I'd say 'Holy sh't, I got my hearing back!'"
– OH_NO_HE_DINT
All About Location
"Given that I'm pretty close to the North Korean border, I'd say I'd guess they were attacking."
– somek_pamak
A Grave Possibility
"I'm pretty close to Russian border (in Finland) so I'd assume it's Putin paying a visit."
– vilefairyx
Laughing Matter
"Jokes on them, the lead paint and asbestos in my apartment will protect me."
"Jokes on me, that will mean I need to go to work right away. :("
– pm-me-racecars
Some people found it easier to accept their fate.
Rest Easy
"Might as well try to enjoy some more sleep for the last moments of my life."
– schmidty33333
Taking The Hit
"Probably die like most people because I have no where to go that could withstand a nuclear blast."
– gameofthrones_addict
Final Viewing
"Might as well go outside and watch."
– BoomZhakaLaka
If Case You Are Out Of The Radius
"You have a better chance of survival if you are indoors. Basement with concrete ideally. All windows and doors shut. The point is to avoid having the fallout settle on your skin. Once inside you stay in for 24-48 hours."
"This, of course, does not apply if you are within the blast radius. In that case it doesn’t matter too much."
– ex_ter_min_ate_
Hawaiians shared their recollections of the false alarm.
"This kind of happened to me in Hawaii a few years ago. I got an ‘incoming nuclear missile, this is not a test’ alert on my phone. My family and I just stood around in shock for a couple minutes, then we went to the underground parking garage and just… waited. Nobody knew what the hell to do. After about 15 minutes it started to become clear that it was a mistake. What a rollercoaster ride that was, holy sh*t…"
– dick-nipples
Harrowing 20 Minutes
"Ooh I was in Hawaii too when this happened!! Was 7 months pregnant with my now 4 year old. Went down to the restaurant to get some breakfast at our hotel and didn’t bring our phones. All of a sudden, we hear the mass text warnings from everyone’s phone going off. Everyone started running and kids started crying. Didn’t know what was going on until we asked someone with a phone and they showed us the alert. We were in shock and kind of just checked out. Went down to the beach because we thought that if missiles were to hit, buildings would collapse and we’d be stuck (lol idk what we were thinking at the time) and what better place to die than at the beach with your lifetime partner and unborn baby. There were barely any people out there except for a few homeless. Found a nice older couple who had the same idea as us and asked if we could use their phone to say our goodbyes to our family. Only knew my brother’s number by heart since my parents recently changed their numbers. All this happened in a span of 20 min I think. Then finally found a police officer that started telling people it was a false alarm. Was so scared I was gonna give birth from all the stress lol."
– GoldenStateMommy
Advice From A Survivor
"There was a Japanese woman who survived either Hiroshima or Nagasaki living on Hawaii when the alert went out. She read it, decided she would rather die than live through a another nuclear blast, and went back to bed."
"So, from a nuclear blast survivor the recommended advice seems to be to die quickly rather than suffer."
– DoomGoober
One Last Drink
"Pour a nice glass of scotch and enjoy the last few minutes of my life."
– thesupplyguy1
It appears once anyone hears a nuclear siren go off, there aren't a lot of options to escape the blast.
And based on what the survivor of the nuclear attacks on Japan said, living through the aftermath sounds like a fate worse than death.
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Apparently, some people missed the lesson about how calling 911 should be reserved only for absolute emergencies.
There are apparently plenty of adults out here thinking the 911 line is a much more casual source for help. These people call for offhand questions, minor gripes with a neighbor, even just a touch personal decision.
Don't get me wrong: there's nothing wrong with reaching out for help. But maybe don't clog up the emergency line.
After all, what if a pressing issue cropped up at the exact same moment?
Redditor Atoms_Apple asked:
"What is the pettiest reason someone has called 911?"
Many people decide to call 911 when they're in a logistical jam. Quick PSA: the ambulance is not a free taxi.
The Jig's Up
"Not a dispatcher but when I was in EMS we were dispatched to a psych call. When we got there this lady was standing out side her house ready to go to the hospital."
"On the way to the hospital I was talking to her and trying to get her vitals when she told me there was nothing wrong with her that she heard a family member was in the hospital and needed a ride, so she called 911. Cops met us at the hospital for her."
Direct Line
"I work for small police station but once had 911 put through a caller who then requested that I patch them through to a pizza place so they could order pizza from a 911 only cellphone..."
-- vtphoenix22
Here's Good
"I've been called to make a bed."
"Another one of my units was called to a drunk guy at a bar for 'trouble breathing' said he was looking for a ride into the city. Almost to the hospital he refused care and transport and got out and went where he wanted to go. It's endless"
A Free Show
"I had a guy call 911 just because he wanted to see fire trucks and ambulances with lights and sirens. He miscalculated."
"There was a cop too...and he was not amused. Dude spent the night in jail."
Priorities of That Age
"I tutored a 2nd grader many years ago for extra money. There was some assignment where the question was about when it is okay to call 911 and the kid (seriously) told me that it's you forgot to bring your homework to school."
-- BlueGrotta
Some people just ask for information. It's startling, especially given that the internet has way more information than the poor worker on the other end of the phone line.
An Eye for Design
"I received a call on the non emergency line from a 90-something year old lady asking me what lamp she should put in her bedroom. I told her I did not understand and that the sheriff's office was not the correct place to ask."
"Eventually she got upset and said 'Fine I'll call 911, they'll help me there!' I tried to tell her that 911 would just go back to me and it was a misuse of an emergency line, but it was too late."
"15 seconds later 911 rings, I answer and lo and behold it was the lady asking 'what lamp should I get for my bedroom?' "
Parents Explain Why They Regret The Name They Gave Their Child | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
Seasonal Emergency
"Not me, but a close family friend worked taking 911 calls for years. She said the number of calls they get about how to cook turkeys at Thanksgiving time is just baffling."
Eyes in the Sky
"To complain we had the road closed. Then asked when it would open. Then asked if they could squeeze through. No, you can't."
-- leg00b
And some people call 911 when they can handle the rage they feel. Unfortunately, many adults can't seem to work out their differences, so they bring in the big guns.
Well, Not Always Adults
"A classmate of mine in 6th grade called 911 because he lost to his sister in Hungry Hungry Hippoes" -- Ok_Entrepreneur_6942
"I didn't see the 'to' before 'his sister' and I thought it was an extremely high stakes game of Hungry Hungry Hippos" -- Disastrous_Toe_Jam
A Cherished Phone
"8 or 9 years ago, my husband and I had a couple of acquaintances over for dinner one night. They were from our local poker group."
"The 4 of us were having a great time when one of the guys accidentally knocked over the other guy's phone and cracked its screen."
"The second guy went mental. He started yelling at the first guy and demanded that he pay to repair the screen. The second guy agreed to it but the first guy kept yelling and yelling. He called 911 and the cops came."
"He told the cops that the second guy broke his phone and he wanted to file a police report. He asked the cops to force the second guy to give him money to repair his phone. The cops were so confused and annoyed. We were mortified because it happened at our house and the cops knew our landlord."
"We never invited him to our house again."
A Laundry List of Rage
"People who get cut off in traffic are probably the worst inane callers. Like, 'Oh so this happened three hours ago, you don't remember the road it happened on, you don't know the registration of the VOI, there was no traffic crash, and there is not even the insinuation that either party involved were under influence of substances?' "
"Noise complaints are similar."
"People calling the emergency line to complain about being arrested earlier (one once complaining about being charged for abusing the emergency line)."
"I've had a woman call emergency because their sister was refusing to share their food, at a cinema."
"But what is probably more insane is the serious incidents that are started by inane and petty things - once had a serious FDV between a mother and daughter - the mother stabbed the daughter after an argument over the colour of cupcake batter."
Some People Just Love Conflict
"I once had the cops called on me by my neighbor. There was a car parked on the street by his backyard. Not blocking his parking space in front of his house, not on his property, not inconveniencing him in any way. It was not my car or that of anybody I knew."
"Same neighbor called the cops on me for animal abuse. My dog was in my fenced in backyard with a bowl of food and a bucket of water in the shade. Told the cops I chained him up all day and night with no food. I showed the cops the pup and was just like why would I chain up a dog in a fenced in yard?"
"Same neighbor called the cops on me for 'verbal assault' when he knocked on my door and said it was against the law to leave my trash can by the road a day after pick up and I told him to f**k off and closed the door."
"The weird thing is I never did anything to the guy to get him to start this and from what I asked the other neighbors he didn't do that to them."
Food-Themed Spats
"There's too many."
"I once got a call from a family of frequent flyers… a husband's wife ordered the wrong topping on a pizza, so they got in an argument and then she threw a ham sandwich at his head."
"Another time a call came from a woman who just got out of church and the drivethru to KFC was too long… and she wanted an officer to come out and help … 🤦🏻♀️"
"Fun times …"
-- karalynn1982
At Her Own Risk
"Not an operator, but a female customer once called the cops on my coworkers for scaring her too much."
"We work at a haunted house..."
Kept Trying
"When I was 5 I called 911 because my mom threw away some leftover McDonald's fries I had saved from the day before."
"When I was 4 I called 911 because my mom threw away some old toys of mine."
"Damn cops didn't arrest her either time 🤣"
Thankfully, these are the worst of the worst. Here's hoping 911 operators are usually able to focus on what matters.
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*The following article contains discussion of suicide/self-harm.
When we think of life-saving medical maneuvers, surgeons and paramedics usually come to mind. We picture frantic CPR, 14-hour surgeries, and those electric things that pulse people back to life.
But 911 operators are massively important to the life-saving equation too.
They're the first ones we talk to in the midst of emergency. They're tasked with retrieving information, calming us down, and arranging the appropriate logistics to allow those more traditional first aid images to occur at all.
And on top of all of that, those operators go through so much. They have to hear some of the most depressing, alarming, gruesome details and maintian composure in the face of it all.
Then, hours, days, or even years later, they process all they heard.
According to a recent Reddit thread, all that processing can take a toll.
layyschipss06 asked, "911 operators of Reddit, what is a call that keeps you up at night?"
Many heard the intimate details surrounding someone's decision to take their own life. These operators were on the phone when those tragic discoveries were first made by a loved one.
That Scream
"I'm a firefighter and I overheard a call on the radio from another unit. They were dispatched to a possible suicide. The information given while the crews were en route was 'patient's wife came home and found a note on the the door saying 'honey I'm already gone if your reading this please do not come in and see me like this' ' "
"The crews arrived and the next thing you hear on the radio was the paramedic telling dispatch 'code 4' (meaning patient is deceased) and in the background you can hear the wife screaming bloody murder as loud as she could. It was chilling"
-- 09inchmales
No Words
"1 am and the phone rings and I pick up to hear a man screaming on the other end. No words. Just screaming."
"Finally get him to tell me what happened and he told me he heard a gun shot in his house and went to see what happened and found his brother in his room. He had shot himself."
-- New-Key-9377
Christmas, Forever Associated
"Worst call I got was when I worked overtime on Christmas Day and got a call from a father who returned from a business trip and found his 19 year old son hanging in the bedroom."
"Haunts me until today."
Other people struggled most with the calls that involved the deaths of young children or the tragic futures of kids just as young. Whether by accident or on purpose, some times the tragedy of a life cut short is a reality we have to encounter.
Just Trying to Help
"I had a witness to a fatal motorcycle collision on the phone with me and he goes 'someone's crossing the road to help OH MY GOD SHE JUST GOT HIT BY A CAR, SHE'S DEAD TOO!' And he just screamed and screamed and hung up."
"An off-duty nurse who stopped to help the motorcycle rider was hit by another car and killed. It was on the news later and I found out she had a husband and two very young kids. I was on worker's comp for about 3 weeks while I recovered from that one."
Nothing For Her to See
"I got a 911 call about a vehicle that ran off the road. The caller told me that the female driver was unconscious but had a pulse. He then proceeded to tell me that the passenger was a fatal. I asked if he had checked for a pulse at which point he told me no."
"It was a young child that had been decapitated. I asked him to find anything he could to cover the child because I didn't want the mother to regain consciousness and have that be the last image she had of her child."
Imagine Hearing That
"My aunt listened to a 12-year old girl and her friend get murdered by her dad. She hasn't been the same since."
"The girl's mother killed him that night. She was just recently let off with no charges--they were gonna charge her for murder."
-- umbrellawand
Sudden and Unknown
"Dispatched about 20 years ago. My last 911 call was. Mom coming home from work at 11 am and couldn't wake baby."
"Baby died from SIDS."
Others talked about when logistics got screwed up for some reason or another. The guilt they felt in those moments was unbearable.
A Fatal Oversight
"It was 9:30am. I'd been on shift since 7am. All the ambulances had checked in for morning mileage and radio checks. All was good."
"Call comes in on the emergency line. 'MY SON IS NOT BREATHING.' "
"Ok, we got this. Start going through the steps of checking for a pulse/breath while dispatching the closest ambulance."
"I'm almost to the part where we start CPR when the ambulance calls back 'Dispatch, our rig is dead.' YOU GOT TO BE FU**ING KIDDING ME. YOU CALLED IN THIS MORNING WITH A RADIO CHECK. DID YOU NOT CHECK YOUR GOD DAMN AMBULANCE?"
"Nearest ambulance is ONE WHOLE COUNTY OVER. 30 minutes. 30 minutes for a situation that needs IMMEDIATE medical intervention."
"The mother is screaming on the phone, crying. The sister comes in and starts screaming the name of her brother."
"I have to tell them the ETA for an ambulance is 30 minutes."
"It's been almost 10 years since I was in EMS Dispatch and I occasionally wake up in a cold sweat thinking about that call."
Time to Go
"About 9 at night a woman calls calmly asking for an ambulance as her husband had passed out. After 10+ minutes of trying to get London Ambulance to answer the phone, she hangs up. I stay on the line and another 10 minutes later they answer, I relay the situation and address and they confirm they'll do a drive-by (basically get the nearest available unit to visit the property - see what's happening)."
"Half an hour later the same woman calls back, exact same reason for calling, once again I'm on hold for London ambulance to answer for 10+ minutes, out of the blue she comes onto the phone and calmly says 'don't bother, he's just died' and puts the phone down again, this time it doesn't disconnect and I hear the most heart-wrenching wail of despair from the same woman, she then goes into a teary rant about how useless everything is and how London Ambulance killed her husband, before the line cuts off again."
"Get through to the ambulance service, explain everything and the operator confirms the drive-by got cancelled because the ambulance it was assigned to had finished their shift."
"I didn't sleep that night and cried more tears than I ever had done previously. Next day I went into the office an hour before my shift was set to start, emptied my locker, gave all my work stuff to my boss and quit on the spot."
-- UncleSeph
Felt Like Eternity
"Doesn't keep me up at night but I do think about it time to time. Had a daughter call in for her elderly mother experiencing chest pains. 10 minutes pass and I call for an eta. They tell me they're there. The daughter gave me the wrong address they had recently moved and she gave the old address."
"The chest pains turned to trouble breathing. Eta 10 minutes. Mother isn't responding. Daughter is crying over the line. Paramedics arrive perform cpr and even use the defibrillator. Sadly she didn't make it. I heard all this over the phone at the time it hit me a bit hard but you get over it."
-- Judge_Open
In response to a list like this, all we can say is thank you. Thank you to all those involved in life-saving responses to the emergencies that strike us.
And a special thanks to the 911 operators who hear it all and still do what they need to help us stay safe.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/911 operators have a front row seat to the moments when people are most stressed out.
These are the professionally calm voices on the other line when somebody calls in the midst of total catastrophe, a sudden tragedy, and imminent danger.
With one call coming in after the next, all shift long, it's not difficult to see how draining that job could be.
But there are occasionally calls that leave an operator chuckling. Some people choose to call 911 for the weirdest things.
Thankfully, a good 911 operator can sift through the the true emergencies and the strange, unnecessary call. Lucky for us, however, those ones ended up on a recent Reddit thread.
Abrera asked, "911 Operators of Reddit, what are some of the funniest things someone has called in for?"
For some operators, it was all about the animal stories. You'd be stunned how many people call 911 when a weird animal mishap strikes.
Swimming Inward
"I only worked dispatch for a few months and I got a call for a fish being stuck in a woman's ear." -- jajison
"Did they arrest the fish?" -- AlienSandwiches
"I- I have several questions" -- The_Official_Dave
Narrating the Whole Thing
"I had a guy call in on 911 because he was concerned about a seagull he thought was injured in a Chipotle restaurant parking lot. Apparently while on the phone, he tried to pick up or check on the bird at which point the bird started squawking, then he started freaking out and I started having trouble telling them apart."
"Then there I could hear what might have been wings flapping, a brief silence, and suddenly the guy started hyperventilating and screaming he needed an ambulance because he was having a heart attack and that the bird flew off."
"I wasn't sure if he was being serious so I got him over to EMS as a precaution. Upon transfer and getting EMS on the line he got very quiet and said, 'I think I'm okay, I'll call you back later,' and hung up and would not answer on callback."
"I still wonder about Steven Seagull when I drive by a Chipotle."
Persisten Doggo
"Not a 911 operator but during residency they had us shadow one during my EMS month."
"This woman called 911 3 times in 10 minutes for a service animal in a mall. 'He's here staring at me! No I don't care that he's helping. He just licked his nuts!' "
-- EMdoc89
All Kinds of Wildlife
"I just certified as a call taker and got mandated for overtime (of course) on my first shift. Policy was if someone insisted they saw something we take it as face value and enter the call."
"Well this lady called me just after midnight and swore she saw a chupacabra on the west side of Orlando and Insisted in an officer doing an area check."
"Not too long after that a coworker was in on his night off and left the building. He called 2 mins later saying he saw a kangaroo hopping down the street."
"I can't make this sh** up"
-- Brent_L
The Great Pig Chase
"Former dispatcher here. My funniest call was a guy called in and said he wanted to report a pig running around."
"I had to ask a pig, as in curly tailed pig. He said yes sir he's running by taco bell now."
"I dispatch out animal control who gets on scene and asks for help. One of our officers assists and for the next 40 minutes or so I got to listen to two of the cities finest chase a young pig around businesses."
"Once the pig was finally caught it was determined the pig came from a transport truck. The driver said he didn't want the pig back so the pig was given to the humane society."
"Never did hear what happened to the little fellow after that."
-- bheidreborn
And now, the moment we've all been waiting for: the steamiest reasons to call 911.
Professional Removal Required
"When I was a Fire dispatcher, I had to send a Squad to remove a penis ring. So there's that." -- bravosarah
"I'm just trying to visualize how they managed to get that off the poor bastard. Did they use bolt cutters or something?" -- SOUNDEFFECT94
"My aunt talks about a dude came into her ER with a titanium ring. They didn't have the equipment to cut it off so the firefighters has to come in with the jaws of life."
"Amazingly it went well and the dude kept his penis." -- Commercial_Nature_44
Wrong Size
"One time a guy called in while I was training and stated he had cut his penis. When I answered you cut your penis?! The trainer smacked me on the arm and told me he said he'd cut his hand. She looked at me like the biggest pervert!"
"Then 10 seconds later into the conversation he says, 'Yeah I was trying on a rubber that was too small and I had to cut it off so I cut right into my penis!' She almost couldn't stop herself from laughing."
-- macmartijp14
When a Kink Leads to Some Logistical Issues
"Numerous calls where someone has handcuffed themself to a SO during coitus and lost the key (if it's not busy this seems to draw most available officers)."
"Not me but a coworker: a person was pleasuring themselves with the handle of a scissors and it got stuck."
-- nineunouno
And others shared the moments that were so ridiculous they were almost cartoonish. Strap in for surreal images, absurd logic, and shocking circumstances.
Man vs. Machine
"There are funny calls that come in all the time. I talked to a pizza delivery guy who couldn't reach his destination because a defiant chicken was standing in the middle of the road. I stayed with him on the phone as he pleaded with it to finally move along. Truly a chicken crossing the road moment."
"Another time I took a call where a guy insisted he was in an argument with a man dressed as a giant Pepsi bottle. He said the man in the Pepsi suit had stolen his debit card and refused to give it back. Upon arrival the officers told me he was high as sh** and arguing with a vending machine."
Trying to Show Off the Guns
"A man requiring extrication from an Under Armor insulated shirt. His shoulder popped out of the socket while he was pulling it on, it was halfway on/halfway off and his arm was locked and dislocated."
-- Dispatcher12
Who Was She Expecting?
"My sister once called because she wanted to know who would be on the other end of the line. I couldn't hear what the person said but I heard my sister's parts of the convo."
"Sister: hello? Who's this? ... Oh..."
"Then she hung up on the operator. They ended up calling back and my dad picked up and had to explain that his daughter was just being curious."
-- 3luejays
Procrastinating the Call
"My caller reported her car stolen. When I asked her when she saw her car for the last time she replied 1990. Yep, 30 years ago."
"She seemed unfazed on why I was surprised by her answer."
Keeping It In the Family
"I once called 911 because I cut my finger and wanted to talk to my mom, who was a dispatcher. I called crying asking to talk to her by name."
"She was more pi**ed at my dad for not waking up when I tried to go to him first haha."
A Concerned Citizen
"Actual 911 operator here. So far the silliest was a guy who called, all concerned about the number of birds flying around because there was an air show nearby and he was worried the planes would hit the birds"
-- xocheerio
Quick Fix
"Friend of mine was a 911 dispatcher. The funniest call he ever had was a woman who claimed she was locked inside of her own vehicle."
"After explaining to her where the door lock switch was, she was able to free herself."
Fluid Limbs
"A friend had cops called on him cause he was doing 'liquid' at the train station. It's a form of dancing at raves where your hands seem to look like liquid."
"The person who called the cops was scared it was satanic or something."
-- minimagess
So if you can, try to take a breath and double check to make sure it's a reasonable time to call 911. Although you can rest assured that if it's really out there, you just might make someone's day.
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Unless you've just realized a lifelong dream of becoming a doctor, finding yourself in the hospital is not a joyous occasion.
Whether you are patient, employee, or concerned loved one, the hospital is a place known for its high-stress elements, morbid realities, and involuntary bodily functions.
All of those common elements can be quite scary, especially while you're in that heightened state of mental stress.
Plenty of Redditors know that full well, and from personal experience. They shared their stories.
le_kif420 asked, "What was the most terrifying thing that you've experienced while staying in a hospital?"
Many Redditors found it scariest to wake up in a hospital bed. Often disoriented, under the influence of drugs, or generally worried for their safety, the moments after the eyes open can be full of panic.
The In-Between World
"I was strapped down and on a ventilator. I woke up and I was on heavy drugs so I kept thinking I was in a very bad dream and and trying to get out."
"I only did that a couple times but I remember having to be told it was real and not a dream. Whatever I think is real is the dream. And after a few seconds it would clear up."
A Regular Refresher
"When I woke up in the hospital buckled to the bed and didn't know why I was there. Happened more than once because it was for a brain injury and I couldn't remember why I was there so I kept trying to escape."
"They ended up writing on a whiteboard at the end of my bed that I'm supposed to be there and stuff."
-- Zeliv
Way Too Public
"I had intestinal surgery when I was about 13. Recovery was about 7 days to be sure that all the plumbing was working properly."
"Well about the 5th day I had woken up to a fairly large wet spot covering my crotch and gown."
"Turns out I had a wet dream and was still unable to move easily to clean myself so I had to inform the nurse. I know it's not much compared to these others, but to a 13 year old it was a nightmare!"
-- 19rotuken84
Too Many Tubes
"It really wasn't that bad but I was 5 and very very scared. It was after waking up from anaesthesia after having my tonsils removed. Due to a genetic thing painkillers or anything anesthetic doesn't really affect me."
"So I wake up and I am in a huge amount of pain, I'm surrounded by strangers and I can't talk. And then I see the bandage on my arm from the IV and start crying."
"It felt like forever until my Dad and Mom were there. But definitely being alone, in pain and unable to voice it was the scariest thing for me."
For others, it was all about the screams.
The other people around them in the hospital were in far more pain or anguish than these Redditors, but there involuntary outbursts were enough to make them shutter.
A Lot for a 12-Year-Old to See
"Was about 12 years old got bit by a poisonous spider. In ER for it. The guy in the next curtain was apperently shot and stabbed with knife still in him."
"Nurses opened the curtain didnt realize me and my dad were in the next area over and so I saw a guy scream and holding in a knife in his gut."
A Tragic Twist
"I was in a car accident with my mom back in 1999 here in Texas. A large van ran the red light at a four way intersection and t-boned us. The accident was so bad they took us all by ambulance to the emergency room."
"The people who hit my mom and I were in the room next to us. The woman was heavily pregnant but explained to the doctors something felt off for many, many weeks but that her doctor in Mexico said the baby was fine."
"The ER doctors did an ultrasound and determined her baby was dead and that it wasn't due to the accident - they figured the baby had been dead for WEEKS."
"I'll never forget that woman's screams. It was heartbreaking. She kept screaming 'get it out of me, get it out of me.' "
"I'll never forget that moment."
A Pop and A Scream
"I spent some time in a psych ward as a kid. It was a bad place and pretty abusive. One of the staff members broke another kids arm and I remember hearing the boy screaming as it happened and afterwards."
"It was scary especially because we had no agency between being kids and psych patients so the staff had total control."
-- Heartlast
Others recalled the procedures they themselves endured. At the time, they were concerned, in pain, and frantic. They hope to never find themselves in that spot again.
ER Trip
"In the ER and was given an IV push for pain and left alone in a treatment room. I had a bad reaction to the medication (found out later, I can't have any form of opiates, real or synthetic, as I have a bad reaction.) In short, I tripped my fu**ing A** off, while bleeding heavily, and whatever they gave me seriously slowed my HR and my BP tanked."
"I'm not sure what was more terrifying: being fully conscious and aware in a body that is slowly shutting down, or being convinced there's a 7 foot tall shadow demon standing at the foot of your bed to take you to Hell when it's over."
-- geminiloveca
AHHHH
"It wasn't terrifying but the most awful thing I've ever felt. I had a drain put in after having my gallbladder removed and the next day the nurse came in to take it."
"That things was in there about 6/7 inches, right up into my stomach and she just slowly pulled it out. Oh a still shudder thinking about it."
-- thatisyucky
Close Call
"Giving birth. I lost a lot of blood, I was lying in bed and feeling really weak and cold when someone from the staff came to check on me."
"I asked if that's what it feels like to die, she didn't seem to take it seriously until she had checked some stuff at which point she got others there and then last thing I remember is them putting some mask on me, thinking I was going to die."
"Reading the journal it was initially estimated to be 0.8L blood loss but it was more than double that I lost. If she had checked on me later, I probably would have lost more blood."
-- jpesj
Hopefully, you never find yourself in the hospital facing such concerning moments like these ones. But if you do, know that you're not alone.
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