Although thankful that Royal Inland Hospital’s staff saved her mother’s life Sunday, Patty Every is bewildered by what she feels was a dangerously inadequate response by first responders.

Marlene Tessier, Every’s mother, was visiting from Vernon for her granddaughter’s sixth birthday party at the North Shore McDonald’s when she complained of itchy, watery eyes.

Tessier, 50, stepped outside for some fresh air. When the woman’s daughter went to check on her, her difficulty breathing and facial swelling were apparent. Tessier herself felt she was choking.

“I told my mother that she did not look well, and that I was calling an ambulance immediately,”’ Every said.

Every dialled 911 but didn’t want to alarm her young children inside the restaurant. In the meantime her mother’s facial swelling worsened in seconds to the point where she grew unrecognizable. She had no history of anaphylaxis — an acute hypersensitivity reaction that shuts down breathing, fatally if untreated — but Every could recognize the symptoms.

“It was absolutely horrendous.”

Every stayed on the line, informing the operator that her mother could no longer breathe. When an ambulance arrived, she waved it over. First ascertaining that Tessier was the subject of their call — despite her obviously dire condition — a paramedic questioned her for five minutes.

Tessier was barely able to stand at this point, and a second paramedic eventually suggested she ought to sit on a stretcher. What surprised Every all the more was that no attempt was made to observe vital signs, a measure that would have indicated the graveness of her mother’s condition.

At this point she was covered in a rash and scratching herself almost to the point of bleeding. She couldn’t breathe, yet she was given no oxygen.

“They did nothing for her. She was visibly sick yet they didn’t even take her blood pressure. I thought she was going to die.”

When the ambulance arrived at RIH, Tessier was instructed to walk on her own to a wheelchair inside the hospital. She had to expend considerable effort and time getting there.

When she spoke with the emergency room physician later Every’s worst fear was confirmed. RIH staff spent two hours working on Tessier to save her life.

“The doctor at the hospital told my mother, once she was more stabilized, that her blood pressure was dangerously low and at the fatal point. She had no oxygen going to her brain, which is why her eyes were swollen almost completely shut.”

The doctor’s best guess was that Tessier had an anaphylactic reaction to the coating on a painkiller she had begun taking.

But Every couldn’t simply ignore the apparent indifference of the paramedics. The 20 minutes she figures were wasted could have cost her mother’s life. If there is ever another similar emergency, she will be driving to the hospital, she said.

Dr. Todd Ring, a physician at RIH, noted that driving to emergency can present its own set of risks. Ring said the standard emergency procedure with anaphylaxis is to administer epinephrine using an “epi-pen,” a device that ambulances typically carry. All paramedics are endorsed to administer the drug.

“I don’t want to second guess the ERS (emergency response service) system in place, though,” Ring said. He was unable to comment specifically on the case but made it clear that rapid treatment is critical.

“Sometimes the longer the delay, the more difficult it is to treat.”

A spokeswoman for B.C. Ambulance Service was unable Monday to obtain specifics on the callout, but she confirmed administering fluids, epinephrine and an antihistamine are standard paramedic procedures.

“All primary care paramedics in B.C. are trained to treat anaphylaxis through the Justice Institute of B.C.,” Chris Harbord said.