Hi There,
Several years ago on our first trip to the World with kids, our 4 year old son came down with a cold, but at the time we thought that it was much more serious. He would start coughing and not be able to get his breath. It was late at night, and we were staying at the Movies Resort.
We didn't know what to do. We didn't want to over react and ruin our vacation by spending a night in the emergency room for nothing, but neither did we want to wait until it was too late. Not being able to get your breath is pretty scary.
He would wake up and not be able to get his breath, but then go back to sleep and seem fine. He did this about 6 times off and on. My husband called the desk to see if they had some kind of in-house doctor. We didn't feel confident about driving and trying to find our way out of Disney and through Orlando to a hospital. What if he stopped breathing on the way? The lady at the desk told us that we wouldn't want to do an in-house doctor because it would be the most expensive thing we ever did. That wasn't very helpful. We waited out another round of coughing then DH went down to the desk to get directions to a hospital. He decided that if he saw the directions and didn't feel able to drive it, he would take a taxi with the son.
This time he came back with more comforting news. The new lady at the desk told him that all he needed to do was dial 911 (We felt strange about this as we really weren't sure if it was an emergency.), the EMT's would come to our room discreetly and check out our son FREE OF CHARGE. Yes, can you believe it????? FREE OF CHARGE AT DISNEY!!!!! They would evaluate him and make the decision for us to go to the hospital or not.
It was so discreet. No one even knew that we had called the ambulance. We heard the sirens very, very far away, but then they turned them off as they came into the resort. They asked me to meet them on the balconey to help them find the room faster. I did. They dismissed our apologies of not being sure if we should call them. They said this was the best way and encouraged us for calling. They tested his lungs and said he was probably allergic to the swamp that Disney was built upon. They had some medicine charged to our room and delivered. It wasn't necessary to go to the hospital. We were so thankful that this terrible ordeal was simplified and discreetly taken care of by Disney. Left to our own devices, we would have wasted the night and ultimately, the next day (not to mention lots of money) at the hospital.
BOTTOM LINE: When in doubt and unsure of what to do, I guess you should call the Reedy Creek Paramedics.
So the bottom line is.......Call the ambulance. It is what they want you to do.
