My dad is Superman

The morning of the 3rd Saturday in May of 2008 was not any different than any other 3rd Saturday of any other month for Joe Fernando. A librarian by profession, Joe was also a trained first aid support volunteer. More like a custom out of habit, Joe got up late, prepared himself for the day ahead. After washing his car, and feeding Mitch, his pet dog, Joe called Emily, his daughter downstairs and asked her if she was ready. “As always,” was the reply. It was a father-daughter ritual they had. Every 3rd Saturday of the month, Joe and Emily would go out somewhere. Usually it was the local park or the zoo. But today Joe decided for the newly opened amusement park nearby. Little did he know that today would be the most different Saturday he could have concocted.


When Fun Turned Sour

 

The amusement park was really a fun place to be. The crowd seemed energetic and eager, and Emily looked happy with all the various rides, shops, and games all around her. This made Joe happy too. Joe was looking at Emily’s happy face when suddenly Emily screamed. Her eyes were thrust wide open and she seemed to be in total shock. Looking in the direction she was staring at, Joe saw it too. A man, had fallen off a ride and landed hard on the concrete ground below, and wasn’t moving at all.

 

“Surely he cannot be dead”

 

Joe was shocked. He had seen accidents in the past, but nothing could have prepared him for this, not with Emily around. However, being a first aid trainer, his mind was already conjuring up his first aid skills. He quickly ran to where the man laid. The man was middle aged, must have been around 40, heavily built. His shoulders and chest seemed to have taken a strong hit, as some abrasions and cuts indicated. He checked the man’s vital signs first. The man wasn’t breathing, and neither was there a sign of any pulse. It had hardly been 2 to 3 minutes since the fall, “surely, he cannot be dead,” was Joe’s thought. He concluded that the man must have gone into a sudden cardiac arrest due to the trauma. Time was running out quickly.

 

A Life to be Saved

 

Joe knew that if there were any chances of saving the man, CPR was his only hope. He told a nearby person to immediately call 911, and prepared himself for the standard CPR procedure. He asked the crowd to give him and the severely injured man some breathing space. After adequately supporting the man’s spine and neck, he alternated between the 30 chest compressions and 2 mouth-to-mouth respirations he knew could possibly save a life. At first nothing seemed to be happening, but Joe was not set to lose hope. After a few more compressions, to Joe’s immense relief, the man’s heart started pumping again and the man started breathing.

 

“I have always believed in angels”

 

Remo Smith, the man who fell out of the ride and almost perished, says that when he slipped out of the protective harness, his first thought was that an angel would catch him. And angel did, with the name of Joe. Not only was Joe a life saver, but a hero too, inspiring life and determination in everyone, with his CPR coming in as the savior of the day. And Emily said, “I knew my dad was Superman.”

Survival story of a cardiac arrest victim at work

There is a funny quote attributed to American author and humorist Mark Twain stating that reports of his death were greatly exaggerated. Florida resident and cardiac arrest survivor Charles Morgan can honestly say, “Been there, done that!”

Morgan miraculously came back from the great beyond. According to medical experts, he was dead for 16-20 minutes before he began his road to complete recovery. What started out as a regular day at work as a car salesman in West Palm Beach turned into an evening full of ferocious efforts to ensure the 52-year-old grandfather’s survival.

Little did Morgan know that when he went outside of the Schumacher Volkswagen dealership for a smoke break his life would be on the line. When his boss, Rich Harward, was about to go out to join Morgan, he was told by another employee that Morgan was outside, face down, in the dirt, with his legs twitching. Another associate called 911, but Harward knew that every second counted, and he went into action. The former police officer and U.S. Marine cleared Morgan’s airway by moving his tongue out of the way and then began chest compressions. His CPR efforts continued until paramedics from Fire Station 5 arrived and took over the lifesaving task. Soon Morgan was on his way to the hospital, where doctors were so pleased to witness his progress in the days after the death-defying episode.

Morgan’s survival story has many chapters. The first was Harward’s quick response with hands-on assistance. The second was the arrival of paramedics who used some new, high-tech gadgets to keep him going through the early phases of treatment. The third – the one that is quite basic and down-to-earth – kept the patient cool. The medical term for chilling down is hypothermia therapy. By using refrigerated IV bags to lower a patient’s body temperature, brain swelling and tissue destruction were avoided.

In February, 2011, the lifesaving team and grateful survivor got together for a joyful reunion at West Palm Beach Fire Station 5. Morgan was captivated by paramedics recounting the tale of his escape through death’s door and expressed his gratitude to all.

Although Morgan has no recollection of the valiant efforts to save his life two months earlier, his actions show that he has learned an important lesson, and he is seizing the opportunity for a second chance at life. As a result of his dance with death during a massive heart attack, he has stopped smoking, started a prescribed exercise program and follows his cardiologist’s orders.

Survivor Story of a Cardiac Arrest Victim – Highway to Hell

Robert Hill and his two kids Emma and Jade were driving back from their weekend trip from the amusement park. It was a custom with the Hill family to take a trip the final weekend of the month; only this time Christy, Robert’s wife, hadn’t been feeling too well and skipped the trip. Both the kids were in the backseat of the car and were nodding off as they were tired from their adventures they experienced during the day. Robert smiled as he looked into their eyes.

Calamity Strikes

 

Robert was driving their SUV at a gentle pace of thirty miles per hour. He was a very careful driver and had also worked as a driving instructor for a small company. Currently, he volunteers as a paramedic for the emergency response team at the local fire station. His thoughts were on his wife back at home, and he didn’t notice the speeding white mustang that overtook him and tried to speed through the red light at the signal. He was jolted back to reality by a loud crash of metal and glass. The Mustang had hit a minivan in the center of the crossing and the other vehicle was flipped on its side. The driver of the mustang was already out of his car and was fleeing the accident scene on foot.

 

“Please let there not be any fatalities.”

 

Hill sat frozen for a moment. Then his trained first aid instincts sprang into action. He leapt out of his car and ran over to the upturned minivan. The windscreen had shattered and he could see a man of about fifty year’s old unconscious against the side of the van that was now in contact with the ground. He leaned in through the window opening and tried to pull the man out. A number of thoughts were running through his mind; “Support his neck, there might be a spinal injury, I don’t see blood, there could be an internal hemorrhage.” The guy was hefty and it took some effort but Hill was able to safely pull him out of the van and onto the road. He wasn’t breathing and Hill couldn’t find a pulse either.

 

A Man of Action

 

Hill knew that CPR was the only hope this man had for his life. He was surprised that the driver had gone into cardiac arrest since there appeared to have been no direct impact to his chest. The crash was loud but the impact had not been too harsh. However there was no time to waste. As a part of his training process, Hill had practiced mouth-to-mouth breathing techniques several times, but this was the first occasion he’d be using it in a genuine situation. On his very first attempt at resuscitation, the man’s heart became active and gradually he started breathing evenly.

 

“He saved my Life”

 

James Burgon, the driver of the minivan, remembers to this day what transpired when he’d been driving back in his minivan from the grocery store. “Had it not been for Robert Hill, I would have been a dead man, he saved my life.” Burgon was 53 when he had this accident and was already a heart patient and went into cardiac arrest simply due to the shock of the impact. Hill’s CPR had saved his life in the nick of time. Even more so, the hit and run suspect was caught by police a couple of hours later hiding behind someone’s bushes in their front yard.

Let me tell you about Alex

If you have never witnessed a person go in to cardiac arrest then consider your self lucky. If you have then you experienced one of two things:

1: Complete helplessness

2: An overwhelming sense to act

 

Those of you who would relate with the ladder must be CPR certified.

If you can’t relate to either, let me tell you about Alex.

 

Alex was an average man in his mid twenties. He was never the Heroic type. Never one to jump in to a raging river to save someone drifting away or run  in to a burning building because their might be occupants, but that is neither here no there.

Alex was strolling through the mall one afternoon when he came across a large group of people gathered around a center point on the floor. In the middle of this chaotic gathering was an elderly man unconscious. Alex asked a by stander what happened and he said the man was grasping his chest and sweating profusely before he fell unconscious. Having taken a CPR certification class at his place of work, Alex knew that this man had just gone in to cardiac arrest. He made his way through the crowd and brushed off the random people who were attempting to “help”. Alex checked his pulse and breathing and with what he learned, knew that he needed to act quickly. He began CPR and had a by stander call 911. He continued breathing and chest compression until EMT’s arrived on the scene. Because of Alex and what he knew, that man went home the next day to his wife of 46 years and got to see his six grand children again.

Every year that man sends Alex an invitation to his birthday party. In the invitation it says, “I’m only here because of you kido.”

If Alex hadn’t taken that optional CPR certification class, the elderly man would have died on the floor that Saturday afternoon, and Alex would have been just like everyone else in the crowd, crippled with helplessness. Instead, Alex was a hero and saved a life that no one else there could.

Talk to your supervisor today about getting a certification class in your office or place of work. Tomorrow could be your day to save a life.

Survival story of a cardiac arrest victim walking to work

Gas is expensive. Cars carrying commuters add huge amounts of pollutants to our already dirty air. By walking to work, those hardy souls who leave the auto at home and hop into a pair of sneakers for the daily trip on foot are getting some valuable exercise and saving the planet, too. But for one 58-year-old Minneapolis resident, the 4-mile walk to work along the Mississippi River one day in 2008 could have been his last.

No doubt, Michael McKee thought he was in relatively good shape. Although he did not feel that walking to work would put his life in jeopardy, he did have hypertension and an elevated cholesterol level. Another risk factor was his family’s heart disease history. But since walking seems like such a benign activity, dealing with a sudden cardiac arrest was totally unexpected.

McKee does not recall the events of that fateful day when he literally passed away and was brought back to life. When the story was first recounted to him, he was under the impression that a doctor riding his bicycle to work had seen McKee collapse to the ground. Supposedly, that physician immediately began CPR as he awaited the arrival of an ambulance. Later McKee found out that no one had witnessed his cardiac arrest and that he had probably been on the ground for quite a while before the doctor’s arrival on scene and lifesaving measures were employed.

Apparently, two people were already standing around McKee when the doctor noticed the commotion, got off his bike and began CPR. Thanks to his valiant efforts, McKee was brought back from the dead. And another surprise revelation was that two physicians had actually pulled McKee back from the point of no return. A bystander who lives across the street from the site of the incident went into his home and got his houseguest, another doctor, to help.

When the ambulance arrived, EMTs needed to shock his heart several times in order to get an adequate rhythm going before transporting him to the Hennepin County Medical Center (Minnesota). Luckily, the incident had been reported as a witnessed cardiac arrest, the type with the best chance of complete recovery, and McKee received therapeutic hypothermia, a procedure that protects the brain from damage. That treatment involves placing ice bags and/or cold gel pads around the patient’s groin area and armpits and, when in the hospital, using a machine that cools down the body.

McKee spent more than a week in the hospital. Insertion of a stent addressed the cardiac blockage issue. He fine-tuned his diet and followed his cardiologist’s drug regime. Within 6 weeks of what could have been the end, McKee was back at work and able to walk about 5 miles a day. McKee is happy to be alive and has one message for firemen, other first responders and anyone who comes upon a cardiac arrest victim: never give up. Whether an incident is witnessed or not, employing CPR and keeping the victim cool saved McKee’s life and could save many, many more.

Eureka! They Found CPR!

A man in Eureka, Oregon is alive today because two bystanders gave him CPR after he suffered a heart attack. It was shortly after eight in the morning, when a 911 dispatcher got the call: a man had collapsed in a shopping mall. A Fire Department Emergency Response team raced to the scene, and found the two bystanders taking turns administering chest compressions. Smart! The number of compressions per minute that result in the best survival rates is probably more than a single person  handle, although any effort is better than none.

 

When the paramedics arrived, they took over CPR and also used a portable defibrillator to restore cardiac rhythm. The man developed a pulse and, in the ambulance, began breathing on his own. But it was the prompt action of two strangers that gave him the chance to live, according to the responders.

 

The story underscores the importance of knowing current CPR methods, of course, but also shows the importance of asking for help from others with similar training if you find yourself in the position of saving a life. The number of chest compressions recommended for effective CPR, meaning to keep blood flowing to the organs, especially the brain, is 100 per minute! Keeping that up for any length of time takes a lot of stamina. And obviously, knowing where to place your hands on the victim’s torso and how much force to apply is critical. Learning those things is simple. The American Heart association partners with local organizations to offer public and private CPR classes in your area.

 

Schedule a CPR training session today! Visit inpulsecpr.com.com for more information on local classes in your area.

 

The AHA reports survival rates triple when heart attack victims receive bystander CPR quickly. In a sad symmetry, however, that happens only a third of the time. Since research finds that strangers are quite willing to help, even more so than family-members, probably due to fear of harming a loved one, it’s apparent many more people need to learn CPR, and knowledge of the best method has evolved, so re-training is important, too.

 

Around 500 thousand Americans will die from hearts attacks this year, if the statistical average holds true. The data on effective CPR make it clear that many of those deaths are preventable.

Survival story of a cardiac arrest victim on the golf course

When a weekend golfer lives in an area that gets blasted by winter’s furious snowstorms and seemingly endless stretches of sub-freezing weather, playing a round with a bunch of buddies on a gorgeous course on a warm, sunny day is something to celebrate. But when hitting the ball off the 15th tee is immediately followed by collapsing lifelessly onto the turf and quickly turning purple, it’s not a pretty picture.

Bill Kushubar was just an average, 54-year-old guy who enjoyed an occasional game of golf in Harrisburg, PA when his life was unexpectedly on the line in 2009. Other than being moderately overweight, he never felt he was seriously at risk for sudden cardiac arrest. No doubt, he would not have thought he was in good enough shape to participate in something demanding like a marathon or a speed skating competition. But golf? It seems so safe, relaxing and laid back

As soon as Kushubar hit the ball approaching the 15th hole, he hit the ground. At first, his playing partners thought he was being dramatic in reaction to a bad shot. As Kushabar started to turn purple, his friends realized the seriousness of the situation. He was unconscious and not breathing. One friend, Charlie Sourbeer, took command and literally saved Kushabar’s life.

As Sourbeer told another friend to call 911, he started to apply CPR to Kushabar. Although it had been 15 years since he received CPR training at work, he didn’t skip a beat. He worked on Kushabar for about 20 minutes and was getting quite exhausted himself when a passing jogger stopped to offer assistance. He was happy to pitch in and take over for Sourbeer. Fortunately for Kushabar, that stranger turned out to be a personal trainer who also knew CPR and more advanced lifesaving procedures.

Sourbeer was the first person in a chain of many that allowed Kushabar to live. One whose efforts might have meant the difference between barely surviving (with significant brain damage) and surviving without any ill effects was Kushabar’s wife, a nurse. She insisted that her husband’s body temperature be lowered so that his brain would be protected. In the absence of cooling blankets, ice bags were placed under his armpits and in the groin area.

An ambulance had been dispatched many minutes earlier, but it got bogged down on the soggy fairways of the golf course. Some quick thinking led to the emergency medical team reaching the victim by hopping on a flat bed landscaping truck. After multiple zaps by a defibrillator and other lifesaving intervention, Kushabar was stabilized enough to be transported to the Osteopathic Hospital of Harrisburg and then on to Harrisburg Hospital. His final destination was the University of Pennsylvania Hospital, where extensive tests could not show any significant heart blockages and the directive to lose some weight was issued.

Although Kushabar does not recall the events of his attack and the days immediately following it, his friends and family have filled him in. He jokes about needing numerous applications of the defibrillator and being given the Last Rites twice. He is taking positive steps to improve his health by eliminating many fatty foods from his diet, resulting in a 30-pound weight loss. He no longer lets things that are out of his control upset him. This survivor of sudden cardiac arrest is grateful for his second chance and maintains a wonderful sense of humor.

Did you know cat litter weighs a ton?

It was about 5:30 in the evening and I was cooking  dinner.  I was wondering how my 74 year old father was doing on his first day on the job as a bagger at Publix.  It had been over six months that we had lost my Mom and I had done everything I could to get him back out and working and seeing people again.

Dad had been sitting for long periods of time and this was not healthy.  He needed to get up and move  or as they always say “get that blood pumping.”  When I called, he didn’t answer right away.  Finally, I heard a breathy “hello” on the other end and I asked him how it went.”   My Dad, a former golden gloves boxer was usually very positive and upbeat when describing things and he said, “terrible.  I’m exhausted and I’m going to bed.  Did you know cat litter weighs a ton?  I thought to myself, “it’s 5:30 in the AFTERNOON!  He can’t go to bed now.  I said, “you know we were going to get you that stress test next week to see if all of your pistons are firing in the right order, why don’t we just run over to the ER and see if they can’t do it sooner?  I was shocked when he agreed to go.  Once we got to the ER, things began to move rapidly, tests were performed and on Monday morning, my father went through a procedure called coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery.  It’s where blood flow is rerouted through a new artery or vein that is grafted around diseased sections of your coronary arteries to increase blood flow to the heart muscle tissue. Within a week he was out of the hospital and after spending ten days in a rehab facility to gain his strength back, he went home.  It’s been over four and a half years, and my soon to be 79 year old father is working parting time, but it does not involve lifting 10# bags of of cat litter!

Studies: Bystanders Who Know CPR Save Lives!

Written by Tom Sirmons                                                   

 

A wealth of recent research* reaches the same conclusion: those who suffer cardiac arrest are far more likely to survive long-term if a bystander immediately begins proper CPR. That’s especially true when emergency medical personnel are unable reach the scene within eight minutes. BUT – considering that brain damage from lack of  blood flow begins as soon as four minutes after heart failure, the need for CPR administration is vital, in the truest sense of that word, no matter how good you think EMT response-time is in your area. And there’s more:

 

If you learned CPR five or more years ago, you are almost certain to apply it incorrectly. Granted, survival rates are higher even among those who receive outdated CPR, but the American Heart Association now stresses that maintaining blood flow to the organs is more important than trying to restore breathing via mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. In fact, a study published in The Lancet several months ago found survival rates among heart attack victims are substantially higher when only proper chest-compression is administered. The old model of alternating compressions with breaths into the victim’s lungs is less effective. Also, note the italicized word above – proper!

 

Chest compressions must be performed with the right combination of repetition and depth to achieve optimal results. In a word, that means training. It’s not a matter of instinct or common sense to know how hard and how often to press down on a cardiac victim’s sternum. The fact is that it’s harder and more frequent than an untrained person is likely to realize. Here’s a hint about compressions: more than one per second! While a 911 dispatcher can you give you basic information over the phone, nothing takes the place of training, which is so readily accessible in almost every community.

 

The ultimate conclusion is that almost any intervention is better than none. After all, when the heart stops, death follows if no action is taken. But the goal is giving the victim his or her best chance at recovering and going on to live a healthier life. Medical authorities say the best known means of meeting that goal is different now than it was just a few years ago. If you’re not trained in CPR, call the American Heart Association and find out how easy it is. If you are trained, this would be a good time for a refresher. Lives hang in the balance. If others get the right instruction, one could be yours.

*citations available on request

Extreme Sports leads to a need for Extreme CPR

Josh Garner, Matthew Gibson, and Bert Fox had decided to celebrate their high school graduation together at Josh’s house. His parents were not home so the three teenagers had the house all to themselves. The spirit of fun mixed with alcohol endowed courage led them to try out what Bert liked calling extreme sports.

 

When Fun went Wrong

 

The three made it to up the roof of the house and decided to take turns diving off into the Garners’ pool. The boys were a little unsteady as they had already been through a case of beer. Matthew decided to take the first plunge and landed with a big splash into the pool. Bert tried to follow him but slipped on the tiled roof and skid off the edge, landing on the hard concrete by the side of the pool. Josh was still on the roof and couldn’t see what had happened, but it was Matthew’s cries from down below that made him realize something was wrong. Bert had landed on his head.

 

“He isn’t breathing!”

 

Matthew went numb. The terrified youngster had no idea what to do and was aghast at the site of his best friend lying on the side of the pool, blood pouring out of the cut on his brow. Josh the oldest of the three came down to find Matthew screaming at the top of his voice for help. Bert wasn’t moving. A wave of panic rushed through Josh as he tried to recall whatever he had ever learnt about first aid. He knelt by Bert and put an ear to his mouth, he couldn’t feel any breath. He couldn’t pick a heartbeat either; Bert Fox had gone into cardiac arrest.

 

Josh knew it was up to him to save his friend’s life as he thought about CPR. There wasn’t any time to waste. Pinching Bert’s nose and tilting his chin upwards, he blew air into his lungs then pushed down with both hands onto his sternum. Nothing happened. He repeated the process once more. This time Bert coughed and closed his eyes, but he had started breathing again and Josh could feel his heart beating under his ribs.

 

Timely Savior

 

An ambulance was called and Bert was hospitalized where he was treated for a fractured skull and a concussion. He had gone through what doctors called a trauma induced cardiac arrest due to his head injury. He was soon discharged and is perfectly healthy now. Josh’s timely and near perfect administration of Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation had saved his best friend’s life.

 

An Angel on Wheels

Angels don’t always appear in mystical visions. Sometimes, they show up on bicycles. During St. Petersburg’s ‘Meek and Mighty Triathlon’, an annual May event to raise funds for St. Anthony’s Hospital, 37-year old Teresa McCoy was about to finish the cycling competition when she noticed a man who’d collapsed on the street. Two police officers were hovering over him. Since McCoy is a nurse at Tampa General’s cardiac unit, she rushed over to investigate. The police said they thought the man, with whom McCoy had chatted briefly before the race, was having a seizure. McCoy’s observations and experience told her something different.

She checked the man’s pulse and found none – “He wasn’t looking good,” she said – so Nurse McCoy immediately started CPR. She also shouted for a portable defibrillator, which one of the officers kept in the trunk of his cruiser. McCoy said as soon as she shocked him, he came to. There’s little doubt the middle-aged man, who wasn’t identified, would have died on the spot if not for Teresa McCoy’s training in CPR. It’s highly probable that other bikers, who kept pedaling past the downed man, had no such training, even though it’s widely available at the Red Cross and other agencies. What possible excuse can there be for failing to learn a simple technique that can and does save lives?

Teresa McCoy has no doubt why she “just happened” on the scene. She said afterward, “I’m so glad he survived, I know that God put me where I was supposed to be. It’s like I was his angel today.” If the power to save lives, to be somebody’s “angel” is as easy as taking a few hours of training in CPR, what are you waiting for?

Survival story of a cardiac arrest victim

Millions of Americans celebrate our independence as they get together with friends, family and gobs of food for a blissful day at the beach or park followed by oohs and ahs at Fourth of July fireworks displays. But for two young women in Michigan with a special bond, this year’s annual commemoration marked the fifth anniversary of a truly special and personal event.

The weather forecast for July 3, 2006 was typical for the time of year – a hot day followed by an evening with a chance of showers. Residents of St. Joseph, Michigan and hundreds of other shorefront communities throughout the country gathered on the beach in anticipation of watching the rockets’ red, white, blue, green and gold glare. There were ominous clouds forming in the distance, but everyone thought the show would go on and be over before the rains came. Unfortunately, a storm formed suddenly, leaving lots of people in the path of a violent squall.

Lyndsay Prager, a then 10-year-old from Kansas, was spending the holiday weekend with her grandparents in southwest Michigan. Jessica Worthington, a then 15-year-old high school student from nearby Dowagiac, had also come to Silver Beach to watch the fireworks. But before anyone could safely find shelter, a big bolt of lightning struck Prager, as she and other family members were trying to find refuge in her grandfather’s truck.

Seconds after Worthington heard the loud clap of thunder, she heard a frantic cry for help. Dale Whiteaker, Prager’s grandfather, pleaded with anyone who could hear him that his granddaughter had been struck and needed CPR. Worthington, who was riding out the storm in her family’s car, had been trained in CPR and other life-saving techniques in her high school health class and responded immediately. She jumped out of the car, started CPR and resuscitated Prager. Prager was later taken to the hospital where she received treatment for her injuries and was released days later.

We all have our special foods, favorite places and ways to commemorate holidays. For Worthington and Praeger, nothing could ever top their reunion dinner at Silver Beach on July 3, 2011. They and their families got together at a pizza restaurant just steps away from the spot where a second chance at life was miraculously made possible by a good Samaritan with CPR training. It was truly a unique and wonderful way for these now friends-for-life to celebrate.

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