Wendy recently received a phone call from the call center regarding a patient who was having breathing difficulty. After asking a few questions, Wendy determined that this patient needed to go to the emergency room.

Wendy made the call for Emergency Medical Services to go to the patient's home. She stayed on the phone with the patient, coaching her with her breathing, encouraging her to remain calm, and letting her know that help was on the way. The patient had been released from the hospital only a few days before and was reluctant to go back to the hospital. With Wendy's encouraging words, calm voice, and constant coaching, this patient was taken to the emergency room, where it was discovered that she had multiple bilateral pulmonary embolisms. Wendy's quick recognition of the severity of the patient's condition and calling the EMTs made a huge difference and possibly saved her life.

The patient wrote a thank you note in MyChart expressing her gratitude: "I would like to pass on my sincere gratitude to nurse Wendy Johnson. I was calling to make an appointment to see you because I thought I had bronchitis. I struggled to breathe. She urged me to call 911-- I did not want to, so she did it for me and stayed on the phone until the medics arrived. My diagnosis was bilateral pulmonary embolisms. I cannot thank the team enough for urging me to go to the ER. She saved my life. I had surgery at an outside hospital. Apparently, in recovery, I struggled to breathe, and they took me back into the OR, where they found a hematoma that was blocking my airway. I was intubated and sedated until discharged home. I called the office that morning just to make an appointment. From the first person who answered the phone and sent me directly to the nurse, I am eternally grateful-- as are my adult children. I absolutely did not want to go back to that hospital and was close to declining because I felt like I was overreacting. In the end, I'm happy to be alive. I hope you will be able to pass this on to the nurse. Thank you!"