Ethel Schmidlkofer (C)
(6:00) Ethel Schmidlkofer tells a story about her father's trip to rush a child from Florence, Alabama to a hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. This interview is part of an oral history project funded by a grant from the Alabama Historical Records Board, managed by the Alabama Department of Archive...
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| Format: | Electronic |
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Florence-Lauderdale County Public Library
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| Online Access: | https://cdm15947.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/oral_hist/id/195 |
| format |
Electronic |
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Oral Histories Collection |
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Florence-Lauderdale County Public Library |
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Florence-Lauderdale County Public Library |
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Oral histories -- audios and transcripts |
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Oral histories -- audios and transcripts Ethel Schmidlkofer (C) Florence-Lauderdale Public Library |
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Oral histories -- audios and transcripts Health care |
| description |
(6:00) Ethel Schmidlkofer tells a story about her father's trip to rush a child from Florence, Alabama to a hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. This interview is part of an oral history project funded by a grant from the Alabama Historical Records Board, managed by the Alabama Department of Archives and History staff, using funds provided by the National Historical Preservation and Records Commission.Florence- Lauderdale Public Library Digital Archive
Interview with Ethel Schmidlkofer
July 21, 2009 Florence, Alabama Conducted by Juliann Losey and Rhonda Haygood
Clip 3 of 12
Juliann Losey: Were there any memorable trips?
Ethel Schmidlkofer: Lots of them, but probably the most, most memorable, it was in about, it would be ‘ 60 to ’ 62, somewhere in there. I got a telephone call, I, I worked the switchboard, I got a telephone call and it was a nurse from down at ECM and she wanted to know how much the cab fare was to Memphis. A little girl had swallowed an open safety pin and it was lodged in her throat. And they didn’t have any, nobody any closer than Memphis knew how to do anything with it. And I said, “ Well, I don’t know.” I said, “ But I’ll find out.” I said, “ What’s the situation?” Said, “ Well, it’s a young couple. They don’t have enough money for an ambulance. And we just wondered what you charged.” And I told the lady, I said, “ Give me your number and your extension, because I want to call direct back to you.” And so, I called back to the garage and I asked the mechanic, I said, “ Is Daddy back there?” And they said “ Yeah.” And I said, “ Tell him to come up here. I need to talk to him in person and in a hurry.” So he came up there, and I told him what had happened, and my dad had a heart as big as his whole body. He said, “ Call back down there and tell them I’ll take them for nothing.” He said, “ Call the mechanic and tell them to fill your Momma’s car up, because it’ll go faster than anything I’ve got.” So, he said, “ In the meantime, while you’re doing all that, call the highway patrol and tell them I’m going to need a lead car,” and he said, “ and find out-” the nurse had already told me that they would put her to sleep, but he had to get her there before she woke up. Now this child was small, like four years old, so there’s a maximum as to how much drugs they could give her. So, all of that had been taken care of by the time my daddy changed out of his overalls and into his street clothes, and so, they had filled the car up. And he came in and he asked me. I said, “ Well, they’re going to wait till they see you coming in, to give her a shot.” And I said, “ But Daddy,” I said, “ They said that probably the longest they could keep her out would be somewhere between forty- five and fifty- five minutes.” It’s 140 miles to Memphis, folks. So, he said, “ Okay.” So he headed toward the hospital and I called and I said, “ He’s on his way and he’s going to be driving a brown and white ’ 57 Desoto.” That was my mother’s car. And they had the baby out on the gurney with the doctor and a nurse, and of course, the mother and daddy. And they were just frantic, real young couple, that was their only child. And so they were explaining everything to Daddy and he said, “ I”, he said, “ Don’t worry about it.” He said, “ I’ve got lead cars set up.” He said, “ I’m going to have them in Alabama, Mississippi and in Tennessee.” Well, he ran off and left the one in Alabama. And the one in Mississippi was waiting on the state line and he ran off and left him pretty quick. And, so the doctor had even talked to my dad and then he talked to the nurse again, and so when Daddy pulled in the parking lot, they were waiting outside together. And she was just beginning to stir a little, just coming to. She wasn’t, she wasn’t awake yet, but she was, you know how when a baby starts to wake up, their little arms and stuff will move. And so the doctor said you know, “ We need to give her another shot right now.” So they took her in and they x- rayed her. And the doctor measured from her mouth to exactly where that pin was, and he, he already figured out my dad liked to know about mechanical things and stuff. And so he told Daddy, he said, “ You have any idea what I’m going to do?” And Daddy said, “ No, I don’t have a clue.” He said, “ Well,” said, “ I’m going to make a tool and magnetize it, and I’m going to slide it down her throat, close the pin and bring it back up.” So, he, my dad went in there and watched him make it and then they went back in there and the little girl’s sound asleep, and they just put this, of course they’ve got a, they don’t call it an x- ray, but that’s basically what it is, so they could see what they’re doing, and he just stuck that thing down there, closed that pin and came right back up with it. And so the boy and girl said, “ Well, how long?” you know. And he said, “ Well,” said, “ We want her to wake up” but he said, “ I don’t think you’re going to have to stay”, said, “ I think you’re going to be able to go back home,” you know. Well, the little boy told my Dad, he said, “ Well, son,” said, “ You,” he said, “ Mr. Frank,” said, “ You don’t have to wait on us,” he said, and he said, “ We’ll figure out some way to get home.” And my daddy said, “ Son,” said, “ That car out there is going back to Florence.” And he said, “ It’s not going to cost me any more to take you, your wife and that baby than it would be for me to go by myself.” So he said, “ I’ll be, I’ll wait with you to know”, you know. And, but the doctor, after he got everything done, he, he looked at my dad, and he had noted the time that they got up there, and he asked him, he said, “ How far is it to Florence, Alabama?” Daddy said, “ 140 miles. Why?” And he said, “ Do you know how long it took you to get here?” Daddy said, “ I didn’t really pay a lot of attention. Why?” And the doctor said, “ Forty- eight minutes.” And my dad said, “ That sounds about right.” So, I don’t really know how fast you have to be going to go forty- eight minutes, I mean 140 miles in forty- eight minutes.
JL: Oh, that is incredible.
ES: But now my dad did a lot of, you know charity things and stuff like that, but that’s the most memorable one, because I don’t know of anybody else that ever went that fast. |
| title |
Ethel Schmidlkofer (C) |
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Ethel Schmidlkofer (C) |
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Florence-Lauderdale Public Library |
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Florence-Lauderdale Public Library |
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FLCPLoral_hist195 |
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https://cdm15947.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/oral_hist/id/195 |
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http://cdm15947.contentdm.oclc.org/utils/getthumbnail/collection/oral_hist/id/195 |
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1782468788449443840 |
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Ethel Schmidlkofer (C)Health care(6:00) Ethel Schmidlkofer tells a story about her father's trip to rush a child from Florence, Alabama to a hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. This interview is part of an oral history project funded by a grant from the Alabama Historical Records Board, managed by the Alabama Department of Archives and History staff, using funds provided by the National Historical Preservation and Records Commission.Florence-Lauderdale Public LibraryFlorence-Lauderdale Public LibraryEthel Schmidlkofer2009-7-21sound; textaudio/mp3; text/pdfEnglishIs part of the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library collection.Contact the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library for permission to use.Florence- Lauderdale Public Library Digital Archive
Interview with Ethel Schmidlkofer
July 21, 2009 Florence, Alabama Conducted by Juliann Losey and Rhonda Haygood
Clip 3 of 12
Juliann Losey: Were there any memorable trips?
Ethel Schmidlkofer: Lots of them, but probably the most, most memorable, it was in about, it would be ‘ 60 to ’ 62, somewhere in there. I got a telephone call, I, I worked the switchboard, I got a telephone call and it was a nurse from down at ECM and she wanted to know how much the cab fare was to Memphis. A little girl had swallowed an open safety pin and it was lodged in her throat. And they didn’t have any, nobody any closer than Memphis knew how to do anything with it. And I said, “ Well, I don’t know.” I said, “ But I’ll find out.” I said, “ What’s the situation?” Said, “ Well, it’s a young couple. They don’t have enough money for an ambulance. And we just wondered what you charged.” And I told the lady, I said, “ Give me your number and your extension, because I want to call direct back to you.” And so, I called back to the garage and I asked the mechanic, I said, “ Is Daddy back there?” And they said “ Yeah.” And I said, “ Tell him to come up here. I need to talk to him in person and in a hurry.” So he came up there, and I told him what had happened, and my dad had a heart as big as his whole body. He said, “ Call back down there and tell them I’ll take them for nothing.” He said, “ Call the mechanic and tell them to fill your Momma’s car up, because it’ll go faster than anything I’ve got.” So, he said, “ In the meantime, while you’re doing all that, call the highway patrol and tell them I’m going to need a lead car,” and he said, “ and find out-” the nurse had already told me that they would put her to sleep, but he had to get her there before she woke up. Now this child was small, like four years old, so there’s a maximum as to how much drugs they could give her. So, all of that had been taken care of by the time my daddy changed out of his overalls and into his street clothes, and so, they had filled the car up. And he came in and he asked me. I said, “ Well, they’re going to wait till they see you coming in, to give her a shot.” And I said, “ But Daddy,” I said, “ They said that probably the longest they could keep her out would be somewhere between forty- five and fifty- five minutes.” It’s 140 miles to Memphis, folks. So, he said, “ Okay.” So he headed toward the hospital and I called and I said, “ He’s on his way and he’s going to be driving a brown and white ’ 57 Desoto.” That was my mother’s car. And they had the baby out on the gurney with the doctor and a nurse, and of course, the mother and daddy. And they were just frantic, real young couple, that was their only child. And so they were explaining everything to Daddy and he said, “ I”, he said, “ Don’t worry about it.” He said, “ I’ve got lead cars set up.” He said, “ I’m going to have them in Alabama, Mississippi and in Tennessee.” Well, he ran off and left the one in Alabama. And the one in Mississippi was waiting on the state line and he ran off and left him pretty quick. And, so the doctor had even talked to my dad and then he talked to the nurse again, and so when Daddy pulled in the parking lot, they were waiting outside together. And she was just beginning to stir a little, just coming to. She wasn’t, she wasn’t awake yet, but she was, you know how when a baby starts to wake up, their little arms and stuff will move. And so the doctor said you know, “ We need to give her another shot right now.” So they took her in and they x- rayed her. And the doctor measured from her mouth to exactly where that pin was, and he, he already figured out my dad liked to know about mechanical things and stuff. And so he told Daddy, he said, “ You have any idea what I’m going to do?” And Daddy said, “ No, I don’t have a clue.” He said, “ Well,” said, “ I’m going to make a tool and magnetize it, and I’m going to slide it down her throat, close the pin and bring it back up.” So, he, my dad went in there and watched him make it and then they went back in there and the little girl’s sound asleep, and they just put this, of course they’ve got a, they don’t call it an x- ray, but that’s basically what it is, so they could see what they’re doing, and he just stuck that thing down there, closed that pin and came right back up with it. And so the boy and girl said, “ Well, how long?” you know. And he said, “ Well,” said, “ We want her to wake up” but he said, “ I don’t think you’re going to have to stay”, said, “ I think you’re going to be able to go back home,” you know. Well, the little boy told my Dad, he said, “ Well, son,” said, “ You,” he said, “ Mr. Frank,” said, “ You don’t have to wait on us,” he said, and he said, “ We’ll figure out some way to get home.” And my daddy said, “ Son,” said, “ That car out there is going back to Florence.” And he said, “ It’s not going to cost me any more to take you, your wife and that baby than it would be for me to go by myself.” So he said, “ I’ll be, I’ll wait with you to know”, you know. And, but the doctor, after he got everything done, he, he looked at my dad, and he had noted the time that they got up there, and he asked him, he said, “ How far is it to Florence, Alabama?” Daddy said, “ 140 miles. Why?” And he said, “ Do you know how long it took you to get here?” Daddy said, “ I didn’t really pay a lot of attention. Why?” And the doctor said, “ Forty- eight minutes.” And my dad said, “ That sounds about right.” So, I don’t really know how fast you have to be going to go forty- eight minutes, I mean 140 miles in forty- eight minutes.
JL: Oh, that is incredible.
ES: But now my dad did a lot of, you know charity things and stuff like that, but that’s the most memorable one, because I don’t know of anybody else that ever went that fast.http://server15947.contentdm.oclc.org/u?/oral_hist,195 |