Today started out with the Sunday morning slowzies. I was congratulating myself for my excellent choice of Mexican coffee beans, when I received a call from the USA asking me to check on a friend who was staying alone at his Cholla home, and who had made a distress call to his wife, also "up north." I shifted into high gear, raced to my friend's home, and found him debilitated by inhalation of noxious fumes. I rushed him to the Santa Fe Clinic & Hospital, located 5 miles away in Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point), and called the clinic from the road to let them know we were on our way.
We arrived at about 10:30 a.m. to find the staff awaiting our arrival, and in short order my friend was in the emergency room being examined by a doctor, who communicated in excellent English, while the nursing staff prepared oxygen and took vital signs. After we knew that he was going to recover, I called his wife to tell her the good news, then left my friend resting comfortably around noon. The doctor said that they wanted my friend to stay in the clinic for 6 hours, and they would call me when he was ready to be released. At 3 p.m. the nurse called to tell me not to worry, my friend was much better, but not ready to go home. At 5:30 p.m. my friend called to tell me that someone had stopped by to visit, and he had a ride home. At 6 p.m. my friend bounced by my house to pick up his wallet, which I had taken home with me. What a pleasant end...he looked like his usual self, and said he feels 100%, and was 100% thrilled with the medical care he received. My friend is sure that the staff at the Santa Fe Clinic saved his life.
I don't know how much my friend's medical emergency cost him; we will find that out when we return during "normal" business hours tomorrow when he will pay the bill and get a statement to send to his insurance company for reimbursement. Regardless of the cost, who ever heard of waiting less than a minute to be treated in an emergency room on a Sunday morning? Or any day, for that matter? One of the things I love about living in Mexico is that this sort of treatment is standard operating procedure in Mexico's medical facilities!