On a cold, snowy morning in March, an EMS team began performing CPR along a small rural highway and continued for hours. Despite heroic efforts to keep his heart beating, the needed support arrived too late.
#EMSHeroesHighlights #RuralEMS #FirstResponders #EMSSavesLives
Submitted by: Mindi Rueb – Herreid, SD
The details of the morning of March 12, 2013, are still very fresh in my memory. It was a cold, windy morning with a few snowflakes in the air. I was a relatively new EMT. The tones went off for a 29-year-old male who had become unresponsive. CPR was in progress alongside of a small rural highway.
The scene wasn’t far from my home, so I responded by personal vehicle. When I arrived, good CPR was in progress. I didn’t know either of these young men, but they were my age. I jumped in and began helping with chest compressions. After what seemed like the longest 10 minutes of my life, the flashing lights of the ambulance finally crested the hill. We got the patient moved into our rig and headed for the hospital in Eureka, SD. We took turns with the hospital staff doing compressions and shocking the patient’s heart for over two hours.
I remember a teammate pulling off his gloves for a new pair, and the sound of the sweat from his hands hitting the floor. Another teammate ran out to the ambulance to recharge batteries for the LifePak. In the midst of this activity, Chuck Hanson, an advanced EMT with experience in using the LIfePak during a heart event, arrived at the hospital. Chuck stepped up to make some changes to the LifePak in an effort to pace the patient’s heart. I later learned the patient was Chuck’s son, Justin.
We had called for a helicopter, but the weather prevented them from flying. They sent medics from Aberdeen instead. When they finally arrived, it was determined to call time of death.
@South Dakota EMS Association @SDAA
