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A surreal workout
Jan. 23rd, 2009 12:38 amSo as I was warming up at the gym today, someone got on the loudspeaker and called for any doctor in the gym to come to the men's locker room. Over the course of the next few minutes, I saw a multitude of trainers running up and down the stairs (I had a good view of the stairs from my bike), and one person calling out to ask whether anyone had called 911, another grabbing what was probably the defibrillator, and they repeated the call for a doctor, etc, etc.
A couple of minutes after that, the ambulance showed up, and more people headed downstairs.
And meanwhile, I'm sitting there, on the exercise bike, having finished my warmup, not really sure what to do. I mean, the situation was being taken care of - by a multitude of people - and there was no reason not to continue my workout... but it's a bit weird to be working out on the upstairs level of the gym while, down on the basement level, some guy is in pretty bad shape.
Because that was about all I knew for a while: there was a medical emergency involving a man, and it had to be pretty bad, based on all the controlled panic I was seeing. (People were doing what they were supposed to do, but they were also quietly freaking out.)
The trainers up on the second floor were sharing information with each other, speculating as to what was going on, and trying to calm each other down. One of the trainers (the one who did my free session on Tuesday) was freaking out in a way that was visible to her colleagues (though not to me), and they were trying to get her to calm down. She'd been one of the ones who went into the locker room and actually saw the guy. She kept saying, "his skin was this color" and I don't know what she was pointing at, but it seemed like it might be her pale blue shirt. (All of the trainers have to be certified in CPR, and trained in how to use the defibrillator that's in the gym - so they were the first ones down there trying to help the guy.) And I eventually got that he collapsed in the shower, and that they didn't know who he was.
The collapsed in the shower part I got from overhearing conversations.
The part where they didn't know who he was became clear from the number of times they asked every male in the gym to go down there and unlock their lockers - that way, they could see which locks were left, clip them, and figure out who the guy might be. By this point, he'd already been taken to the hospital - I think.
One of the trainers said someone had been doing CPR. That trainer was a bit freaked because, even though they all have to be CPR certified, they never expect to actually have to use it.
Clearly, whatever happened was rather serious.
And it is quite possible the guy died. I have no idea and no way to find out.
Anyway, I went to the gym to work out, and so I did. But knowing that some guy had collapsed at the end of his workout made my own workout, and may have died while I was exercising two floors up, well, it was just a bit weird.
Oh, and on an entirely different note, I kept meaning to post about Obama, but all I could come up with was inarticulate stuff like yay and wow. So yay, he's president. Wow, he speaks well. I am excited.
A couple of minutes after that, the ambulance showed up, and more people headed downstairs.
And meanwhile, I'm sitting there, on the exercise bike, having finished my warmup, not really sure what to do. I mean, the situation was being taken care of - by a multitude of people - and there was no reason not to continue my workout... but it's a bit weird to be working out on the upstairs level of the gym while, down on the basement level, some guy is in pretty bad shape.
Because that was about all I knew for a while: there was a medical emergency involving a man, and it had to be pretty bad, based on all the controlled panic I was seeing. (People were doing what they were supposed to do, but they were also quietly freaking out.)
The trainers up on the second floor were sharing information with each other, speculating as to what was going on, and trying to calm each other down. One of the trainers (the one who did my free session on Tuesday) was freaking out in a way that was visible to her colleagues (though not to me), and they were trying to get her to calm down. She'd been one of the ones who went into the locker room and actually saw the guy. She kept saying, "his skin was this color" and I don't know what she was pointing at, but it seemed like it might be her pale blue shirt. (All of the trainers have to be certified in CPR, and trained in how to use the defibrillator that's in the gym - so they were the first ones down there trying to help the guy.) And I eventually got that he collapsed in the shower, and that they didn't know who he was.
The collapsed in the shower part I got from overhearing conversations.
The part where they didn't know who he was became clear from the number of times they asked every male in the gym to go down there and unlock their lockers - that way, they could see which locks were left, clip them, and figure out who the guy might be. By this point, he'd already been taken to the hospital - I think.
One of the trainers said someone had been doing CPR. That trainer was a bit freaked because, even though they all have to be CPR certified, they never expect to actually have to use it.
Clearly, whatever happened was rather serious.
And it is quite possible the guy died. I have no idea and no way to find out.
Anyway, I went to the gym to work out, and so I did. But knowing that some guy had collapsed at the end of his workout made my own workout, and may have died while I was exercising two floors up, well, it was just a bit weird.
Oh, and on an entirely different note, I kept meaning to post about Obama, but all I could come up with was inarticulate stuff like yay and wow. So yay, he's president. Wow, he speaks well. I am excited.
