Dear Ann Landers: I would like to ask you to mention National Emergency Medical Services Week in your column. It is the third full week in May, which means this year, it is May 19-25.
Some EMS systems are run by law enforcement or fire departments, but many are run by hospitals, large manufacturing plants and local communities. Some EMS workers are paid, and others are volunteers. Some are also firefighters or police officers, and many are civilians connected to police or fire organizations, but all stand ready to respond to save a life at a moment’s notice.
Will you please mention the EMS workers in your column? I think they have earned it. — Richard C. Berger, N.Y. State Emergency Medical Technician
Dear Richard Berger: They certainly have. I am pleased to mention National Emergency Medical Services Week, which begins Sunday. I hope all EMS workers in the country know how much they are appreciated.
Dear Ann Landers: I’m writing in response to “Too Much Sex in Los Angeles,” who complained that her husband wanted sex all the time, even though she was exhausted from taking care of small children. She thought their years together should count for something, but he said a wife has to provide sex. It has been a while since I read that letter, but I still become angry every time I think of his comment that he “already has plenty of friends” and she should do her “wifely duty.”
This idiot needs to hire a housekeeper to help lighten the load. If she didn’t have so much housework, cooking and childcare, she might have more energy at bedtime. — Don’t Mind Being Single in San Diego
Dear San Diego: You are not the only one who thought some assistance around the house might alleviate a lot of the problem. I hope all men who expect more sex but refuse to help their wives around the house will pay close attention.
Dear Ann Landers: I’d like to say something about well-meaning people who visit someone in the hospital.
I was hospitalized for two weeks after undergoing emergency surgery. First, let me say I am grateful to my doctors, the hospital staff and the wonderful people who invited my husband to dinner, stocked our refrigerator, cleaned our house, mowed the lawn, ran errands for me, brought me toiletries and washed my hair. I don’t know what I would have done without them.
I was under heavy medication during my stay and was not able to receive visitors most of the time. The majority of our friends understood this, but then, there were “the others.” One so-called friend showed up nearly every day, awakened me on several occasions and would not leave. She even had the nerve to say, “I know you don’t want visitors, but this isn’t for you, it’s for me.” Once she plopped down heavily on my hospital bed, and I needed extra medication for the pain.
During another visit, I dozed off. My husband asked my visitors to leave, but they lingered in the hall talking so loudly that I awakened, and a nurse had to ask them to be quiet.
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Please, tell your readers, if they know someone who is hospitalized, to check with the family before phoning or visiting. Keep the visits short.
Be quiet both in and outside of the patient’s room. And never, ever, sit on the patient’s bed. Thanks, Ann. I feel better now. — Ex-Patient in Raleigh, N.C.
Dear Raleigh: You’re welcome. I hope all well-meaning visitors will take note of your suggestions and keep them in mind for future reference.
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