What To Expect When You Least Expect It: Part I

DAYTON - The thought of walking through a hospi- tal may not inspire thoughts of happy staff members and warm greetings. But for Dayton resident Evelyn Himmelberger, visits to the Columbia County Health System are all smiles.

Himmelberger has been through a lot in the last few years but inspires an affectionate reception from everyone who came out to greet her during a walk through the hospital hallways on Friday, Jan. 17.

Himmelberger was al- ready more familiar with the hospital than most, after spending about two and a half years visiting Booker Rest Home, where her late husband Jack Himmelberg- er spent his final years in what Evelyn Himmelberger called excellent care.

So when she returned to the hospital, she saw it in a way she hadn't experienced before - she was the patient.

Eighty-year-old Him- melberger was getting gar- dening tools from her ga- rage last fall when her foot caught the edge of a box and she toppled to the concrete floor.

"You know those com- mercials, 'I've fallen and I can't get up?'" Himmel- berger asked. "That was my first thought."

She felt a pain and when she looked down she knew something was broken.

"You look down and see your foot going the wrong way," Himmelberger said.

Himmelberger realized then that she wasn't near a phone and her neighbors had left for a weekend trip. Her hip was broken and with no other nearby neighbors, she knew in that moment she would have to find an- other way to get help. But, as Himmelberger said, "some- body is looking after me."

Her neighbor, Jeremy Trump, happened to come home on his lunch break to pick up something he had left behind for the trip. Himmelberger called out to him and in a matter of about five minutes after her fall, help was on the way.

Himmelberger said she knows she was lucky. Many people in her situation have to wait hours or even days before someone can call for help.

"It could have been so much worse," she said.

Those commercials that seemed silly to Himmelberger before became a real- ity after her accident. Now, Himmelberger wears one of the emergency alert buttons advertised in so many of those commercials.

"I always thought I'd get one of those necklaces when I got old," Himmelberger said. "I guess I am at that 'elderly' stage hellip; I don't feel 80."

Many of her friends are also getting emergency but- tons after realizing that Himmelberger's accident could happen to anyone.

"The accident wasn't from being careless, it just happened," Himmelberger said.

Himmelberger's emer- gency alert button works within about a football field's radius from her home and now she wears it all the time, except while she sleeps, when she leaves it on the nightstand.

She has already given it a test and knows it works, although that accident was less painful.

Himmelberger said she was holding a jar of pickles in her arm when a voice said, "Evelyn, is everything okay?"

She realized then she had accidentally pressed the button but knows now that someone is ready and wait- ing in case she ever needs help again.

The brand Himmelberger chose, Bay Alarm Medical, has a monthly fee of $19.95 for customers who purchase a year of service at the same time, or $29.95 month-tomonth. To Himmelberger, the price is outweighed by the benefits.

"Knowing you're secure is worth it," Himmelberger said.

NEXT WEEK: Part II "You're In Good Hands"

Himmelberger's nine- week experience with well- trained medical staff and how simple it was to find transportation even when she couldn't drive.