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A glowing object, her cell phone, falls to the ground. And then ... stillness.
一个发光的物体，她的手机掉到了地上。然后就再没有声音。
IT'S UNCLEAR how long it takes your brain to die without oxygen, though there are some estimates based on medical research.
现在尚不清楚大脑缺氧多久才会死亡，不过有一些基于医学研究的估计。
After three minutes or less, you might fully recover. Between three and six minutes, your chances drop—but still, recovery can be possible.
缺氧三分钟或更少，你可能会完全恢复。在3到6分钟之间，你生还的机会就会下降——但恢复还是有可能的。
Beyond six minutes, there's little chance your brain won't be severely damaged, with death a much more likely outcome.
超过6分钟，你的大脑不受到严重损伤的可能性微乎其微，死亡的可能性更大。
Laura's countdown probably began a few seconds after 4:26 a.m.,
劳拉的倒计时可能开始于凌晨四点二十六分后的几秒，
although it's possible her heart kept beating for another minute after she lost consciousness, according to asthma experts.
但是，据哮喘专家表示，有可能的情况是，在失去意识后，她的心脏又跳动了一分钟。
Every second was vital. Yet so many would be wasted.
每一秒都很关键。然而时间浪费了太多。
After realizing Laura couldn’t speak anymore, the Somerville police dispatcher told her to hold while she called an ambulance.
在意识到劳拉已经不能说话后，萨默维尔的警察调度员让她稍等片刻，然后她打电话叫救护车。
That took more than a minute—a minute that Laura would never get back.
这花了超过一分钟的时间，过了这一分钟，劳拉就再也回不来了。
The police next called the Somerville Fire Department, which has a station just 1,000 feet from the hospital.
警方随后打电话给萨默维尔消防部门，那里的消防站距离医院只有1000英尺。
But the police dispatcher merely related that Laura “must be on Tower side,”
但警察调度员只是说劳拉“肯定在塔街那边”，
failing to say that her cell phone pinged at 68 Tower Street, at the top of the hill, or that she was outside the emergency room.
而没有说她的手机定位地点是塔街68号，在山顶上，也没有说她在急诊室外面。
Without those details, the fire department’s dispatcher had to guess where Laura was.
没有这些细节，消防部门的调度员只能猜测劳拉在哪里。
Following a hunch, he sent his crew to the other side of the hospital,
凭着直觉，他把他的手下派到医院的另一边，
where an entrance to some doctors’ offices is locked overnight: “Attention Engine 7.
在那里，一些去医生办公室的入口彻夜锁着：“7号消防车注意。
Respond to the Somerville Hospital, 230 Highland Avenue ... We believe this is possibly on the Medical Arts Building side.”
请到萨默维尔医院，高地大道230号...我们认为她可能是在医疗艺术大楼那边。”
Somerville Hospital is the last to be reached by phone.
萨默维尔医院是最后才通过电话联系上的。
There is no direct line to the emergency room, apparently, even for police, so a night receptionist had to patch the call through.
显然，连警察局都没有直通急诊室的电话，所以他们不得不通过夜间接线员接通电话。
The transfer took about 30 seconds— more time wasted. Finally, nearly two minutes after Laura had lost consciousness, a phone in the emergency room rang.
这次连线又花了30秒，更多的时间被浪费了。最终，在劳拉失去知觉将近两分钟后，急诊室里的电话响了。
A nurse, whom I’ll call Nurse X, answered. “Hi, it’s Somerville Police.
一个护士，我称她为X护士，接了电话。“你好，我是萨默维尔警察。
Are your doors locked, by any chance?” said the dispatcher. “No. Why?” responded Nurse X.
你们的房间是不是锁了？”调度员问道。“没有，怎么了？”X护士回答道。
“Because there’s a female who’s having an asthma attack ... She’s pinging off Tower Street, and she’s saying the emergency room is closed.
“因为有一位女性哮喘发作了...她定位显示是在塔街，而且她说急诊室房间是关着的。
So I don’t know where she is,” the dispatcher continued. “I’ll go look,” said Nurse X.
所以我不知道她在哪里。”调度员继续说道。“我去看看。”X护士说道。
Hanging up, she walked to the ambulance-access door, which she found locked, and opened it.
她挂上电话，走到救护车通道那边，发现门是锁着的，就打开了门。
