First, I should say I’m a 74-year-old male who had never been in a hospital in my life. I don’t think I’ve even been in an emergency room unless it was decades ago. Under these circumstances, I had no clue what to expect, only that it was probably going to take a long time. I was in a fair amount of pain so I was hoping for fast action! It took a while to get things rolling but after some paperwork, I encountered John. Right from the get-go he had an air of confidence and an empathetic manner as he filled me in on procedures for evaluating my ailment. He made everything clear.

My opinion of John didn’t just come from my own interactions but also from observing him for the seven hours we sat there. He never stopped! Whether in his little room during his duties, or out on the floor, he had a great presence. I hope I’m not getting carried away, but I’m going to call him the maestro – moving from patient to patient, helping with information, consoling, comforting, and supplying warm blankets. Whatever he could do to be helpful, he was on it.

At one point he had to wheel a gentleman into the bathroom. His offer to help him was declined. But while he waited patiently by the door, he interacted with folks sitting nearby and before you knew it, there was actually laughter! Imagine laughter in the emergency room! He wasn’t cracking jokes or doing a standup routine, just his friendly, relaxed, and helpful manner made everyone comfortable.

John got an IV started which helped and was a big psychological boost and said he would try to help with a CT scan. Finally, I went for the scan and found out I had an obstruction (ouch). He calmly but firmly told me I would not be going home that night and waited for a room upstairs. That was the last I saw of John, but his presence and manner made the whole experience a whole lot more tolerable than I was expecting.