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I also think the husband was dumb not to call 911 and have an ambulance, probably with two paramedics, take the wife to the hospital."

I hate to say it, but in the case of a true stroke you have what is called "the golden hour". If you get to the hospital and they are able to diagnose your problem and administer the proper drugs within an hour of your symptoms starting you are likely to have a good outcome. Longer than that and your chances of becoming a permanent drooler start increasing greatly.

So the question is should you call 911 or have your family member take you to the Emergency Room. That is going to depend on a number of factors, but I know that in my family's case we will be better off transporting ourselves.

I have worked for a city fire department for over twenty years. Even our medic units carry no drugs that will help in the case of a stroke. I live in an outlying area where we are served by a volunteer fire department.

I am certain that even if we were to call for stroke symptoms it would be fifteen or twenty minutes before anyone showed up. Then they would take around fifteen minutes before transporting. It would take another fifteen minutes before my family member made it to the hospital. At least another fifteen minutes would go by before a diagnosis would be made and drugs would be given. These are actually ideal times. If anyone screws up somewhere along the line, if the nearest fire engine or ambulance is on another call, if you get a crew who has one finger in their butt thinking that you are a whiner and not really sick all of which is highly likely our "golden hour" will be history.

So in our case I am taking our family member straight to the hospital where they can get some real help before it is too late. If I have to deal with the police afterwords that will be a very small price to pay. Despite what we have been brainwashed to think for the last thirty years... 911 is not the best solution in many cases for many situations especially if you are a self-reliant person.

I call it 911 addiction. People who have never worked in the emergency response system, whether as police, firefighters, or EMT, often do not understand that the cop/pumper/ambulance is not parked around the corner and ten minutes is a reasonable reasonable response time.

I know I’m preaching to the choir with you, but to everyone else reading this thread:

Find out the expected response time from your local police, fire, and EMS. Find out how long it takes to drive to the nearest hospital. Add 15 - 20 minutes for the crew to assess the scene and the patient, begin treatment, package and get to the ambulance.

Red lights and sirens look great on tv, but in real life the traffic can’t jump out of the lanes at a crowded intersection and drivers often stop in the middle of the road when they hear a siren. An ambulance is not a magic carpet. If the hospital is close, and you can treat the condition, get moving.

While you’re at it, learn what to do in an emergency. You can get all kinds of useful information just by asking.