Heartsafe Community approaches save another life at East Fork
Submitted by Carson Now Reader on Tue, 02/24/2015 - 7:10pm
During summer of 2014, a gentleman was jogging on Windmill Road in Fish Springs when he suffered sudden cardiac arrest. The gentlemen, who had no previous history of heart problems, collapsed in view of a bicyclist. The bicyclist was a nurse and immediately went to the jogger and provided CPR while flagging down two passing gentlemen who called 9-1-1.
By the time 9-1-1 was called, the three bystanders were cycling through CPR to pump blood through the jogger’s body until additional help could arrive to try to restart the heart.
Douglas County 9-1-1 Emergency Services Dispatchers, Ashely May, Nonie McCandless and Cara Dillon received the 9-1-1 call and started an Echo or community response to the call. This call alerted all East Fork Fire District personnel, dispatched the closest paramedic fire engine and paramedic ambulance along with the closest Douglas County Sheriff’s Deputy. East Fork Fire is recognized as one of five communities within the State of Nevada as a Heartsafe Community for this community approach to sudden cardiac arrest death out of a hospital.
Deputy Troy Van Amburg arrived on scene to find great CPR underway. He attached his automatic external defibrillator to the jogger and delivered an electronic shock that restarted the heart. Deputies Les Vido and Ron Skibinski arrived on scene and assisted Deputy Van Amburg. East Fork Fire District arrived on scene and quickly loaded the jogger into the paramedic ambulance.
The jogger had a pulse and remembers awaking for a short period of time in the back of the ambulance. East Fork Fire Captain Brian Nelson, Firefighter/Paramedics Dennis Cote, Zac Pedersen and Ed Martin along with Firefighter Jeremy Hall attended to the jogger. They transported him to the Care Flight landing pad at Carson Valley Medical Center.
East Fork took the jogger to Care Flight for a short trip to Carson Tahoe Hospital, the regional cardiac catheterization lab. All regional paramedic fire agencies collaborate with the lab to bring cardiac issues to them so the patient can bypass the emergency department and go directly to the catheterization lab for definitive care when field EKG’s indicate a potential blockage. Through the Heartsafe Community approach, East Fork has provided and maintains a number of defibrillators, known as an AED, in the Sheriff’s Office and other public facilities for cases such as this one.
The jogger spent two days in the hospital to receive some stents to open the clogged vessels. He was discharged with no cardiac or brain damage and lives a healthy, productive life because of our Heartsafe Community approach. If this was you, would you be as lucky? Do you know CPR? CPR instructions are provided by 9-1-1 dispatch when you call, but taking a CPR class will teach you the skills you need before you need them. Classes can be taken at East Fork Fire District or Carson Valley Medical Center.
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