Gettysburg Campaign '05: PFC Matthew wins Sidewalk Skirmish

Well, our sightseeing tour climaxed yesterday afternoon when Debbie tripped on the sidewalk outside of the Gettyburg Ghost Tours office (cooincidence?). The problem was that she was carrying our one-year old son in a Hip Hammock (TM) at the time. Fortunately (although not for her), she landed squarely on her hands and knees. Mattie's head wound up hitting the concrete, but after nervous few minutes, it turns out he was fine...he got a little knot on the head above his ear but there was no bleeding and he never lost consciousness. We called our pediatrician for advice and headed over to Gettysburg hospital as a precaution. The ER staff confirmed what we suspected and hoped...just a bump. Fortunately, he was tired before the accident and had fallen asleep in the car on the way to the hospital. He woke up when we took him out of the car seat and brought him into the ER. This was something the ER staff was glad to hear, as having a healthy sleep cycle is a concern for those with head injuries.

So Mattie returned from his first ever ER visit with a clean bill of health. Let's hope he doesn't have to go there again for...oh...the next 75 years.

Aside from the whole falling-mysteriously-in-front-of-the-ghost-tours-office incident, here are some other interesting tidbits from yesterday.

• Not being fully familiar with the area I was in, when I called the hospital from my car I asked for directions originating from my hotel. After driving back to the area of our hotel, getting on the highway and traveling south for a bit, getting off, and coming back into town, I discovered the hospital was on the street directly behind where we were. We could have freaking walked there.
• The ER doctor who looked at us was a Dr. Codori. This name I instantly recognized from an auto tour of the battlefields we were just on the previous day. He confirmed that his family was indeed the family who owned the Codori farm, which played a host to the famous "Pickett's Charge".
• It took us about 15 minutes to be seen at the Gettyburg Hospital ER. From past experiences by myself and others, it normally takes about 3-4 hours to be seen while sitting in the RWJ/Hamilton Hospital ER. Considering the three hour drive, if we're injured at home in the future, it might make more sense to drive to Gettyburg to get medical help.