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Paramedic Stories, Part VIII: Heart Attack!! (By Johnny Eaglefeather, EMT) by Karen Lynn Vidra, The Texas Tornado
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
Rated "PG" by the Author.
Johnny has to save his own father's life after he has a sudden heart attack and stops breathing.
I am still shaking now as I try to attempt to record this on my laptop for future posterity and reference; and I am so upset it is all I can do to keep from crying or throwing up.
My daddy is in the hospital, fighting for his very life; and right now, things don't look all that good for him. He suffered a sudden massive heart attack this morning while eating breakfast, and it was Mama who called the firstation, asking for an ambulance for my father. He had collapsed and was having severe difficulty with his breathing; plus he was having severe, crushing chest pains and was diaphoretic (sweating profusely). He was showing some of the classic signs of a possible heart attack, so we knew we had to boogie on over to my mother's house if daddy was to have any chance of surviving the heart attack he was currently having.
When we got to my house on Twin Rivers Lane (ten minutes away from Nashville Memorial Hospital), two firetrucks were already there, on the premesis, and by the time we came by in our ambulance, my mother met us. She was crying, and she was saying that my daddy was unconscious and wasn't doing very well; and that he looked bad.
We found my father in the livingroom. He was lying on his back, face-up, and he was very blue in the face and was sweating heavily. He was also gasping for air, and it was clear that he was in trouble. My partners Kendall (Smith) and Glenn (Ochoa) were both busy getting my daddy hooked up to a heart monitor and to supplimental oxygen while I checked his pulse, his breathing, and his other vital signs. He was not getting enough oxygen (which explained for the blue coloration of his skin), and his heart rate on the EKG was abnormal: it was going in an irregular pattern across the screen on the monitor, and the alarms were going off. That told us that my father was going into cardiac arrest, and that he had just stopped breathing; and it was best that we try to restart his breathing and to try to get his heart back into a normal rhythm. If we didn't, he could die in only a matter of a few short moments if we didn't do something, quick, to try to save him and to restart his heart and respiration.
Kendall started chest compressions on my daddy while Glenn started bagging him by way of an Ambu bag that had been attached to an airway that had been inserted into my father's mouth; and until we got him to the hospital, or until he started breathing again, there was no way of knowing as to whether my father would survive this crisis involving his heart. I never was so scared as I watched my friends working their asses off in trying to revive my unconscious, pulseless father, and I silently whispered a quick prayer to the Great Spirit above to spare my father's life.
It seemed like hours, but it was only minutes before the advanced life support ambulance arrived on the scene; and soon, more paramedics entered the house; and they took over the care of my father. It was highly upsetting to see them pounding on my daddy's chest as though he were a piece of raw meat, and also shocking him, in the hopes of trying to get his heart back into a more normal "sinus rhythm"; but these drastic measures were necessary if my daddy was to have any chance of surviving the heart attack.
Soon, my daddy was in the back of a speeding ambulance, on his way to Nashville Memorial Hospital; and all the time, the paramedics continued to work on him. He was still not breathing, but he now had a pulse again, and his heart was beating. Still, he wasn't out of the woods yet, and he still looked terrible; he looked like he was on the verge of death, and it scared the holy hell out of me.
That was this morning. Daddy is still alive now, I am glad to say, but he is still in critical condition, and there is a chance that he can still die. He suffered possible damage to his heart, and he isn't responding as well as he should, according to Dr. Feltzer, who is daddy's attending physician. Mama has been at the hospital since her husband was brought in, and she has not left his side since he was put into his room in the Coronary Care Unit (CCU), and I have been in the lobby, fielding calls from my fellow paramedics and EMT's, trying to keep them abreast of daddy's condition, and also have been calling my sisters Johnna and Joy, in case something should happen. (Johnna and Joy both live in Georgia, near Atlanta.) I have also been calling some of daddy's friends and telling them about what has happened, and the latest information about him. They were upset to hear that my daddy is now in the hospital, fighting for his life; but for now he is still alive and is hanging on for all his worth; so for now, that is the most important thing, and all we can do now is hope for the best, wait, and pray.
Wow ((((Karen))))
This is amazing, you continue to educate us, and i agree with Karla tragedy can strike at any second, Amber's Grandpa's in the hospital now...
God Bless
Michelle~
You've drawn a very realistic picture, karen! this kind of thing happens everyday...if it isn't happening to you and me it's happening to someone else...thanks for walking us through the trauma of life and death!
Safi
disaster can strike suddenly, without warning--i cannot imagine the horror this young man felt as he watched the battle for his daddy's life...and the uncertainty of his daddy's future--but his life was saved
you've educated masses about the importance of being prepared--well done
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I am still shaking now as I try to attempt to record this on my laptop for future posterity and reference; and I am so upset it is all I can do to keep from crying or throwing up.
