Our first 061 call

This weekend we got to try out the emergency medical system here in Sant Cugat.

Unlike the US and Canada, where 911 is the only number you really need to know, in Spain emergency each service has its own direct dial number in addition to the general purpose 112.

061 is a good number to know, since it connects you directly to the emergency medical service. By directly, I mean, one ring and the guy is talking to you. Unfortunately they don’t seem to have the ability to pull up the address from your land line as in the US, so it’s good to have your address written on a whiteboard in your home in case guests need to call in an emergency.

In our case, I was off in Sabadell when I got a call from home along the lines of “OMG! there’s blood everywhere!” I phoned 061 and gave them my address and home phone number and they had an ambulance on the way right away. It’s probably a better idea to phone 061 directly, rather than phoning someone and having them do it.

The ambulance people were super-nice and it was off to Mutua Terrassa (again). I stayed behind and packed a couple things plus the baby, and showed up about half an hour later.

They had me a wait for a bit at the hospital until the doctor came out. He came to me with a serious expression, and put his hand on my shoulder and I thought “holy shit”. But he just wanted to tell me that he was planning on doing some minor surgery and that he thought everything would be ok.

I find doctors here don’t tend tell you what they are doing, or why they are doing it. What has worked well for us is to tell the doctor right away that we are well educated big shots with serious enchufe and would very interested that they tell us all the gruesome details. It was amazing how this previously grumpy doctor’s demeanor changed and he came back after the operation to give us all a hug and wish us the best.

Once the surgery was complete, they moved us to the “planta” for recovery. If you have insurance, make sure you mention this *before* you run downstairs to do the paperwork. With insurance, you get a single room and towels. Otherwise you might share a room with a gypsy clan (there was actually one on our floor… we felt sorry for the other room occupant).

In any case, we are all safely back home now recovering.