UPMC, Middlesex Township honor lifesavers
MIDDLESEX TWP — A delivery man was making a routine delivery Feb. 23 when he fell gravely ill and collapsed.
Fortunately, there were enough people in the vicinity to offer help when he needed it most. Thanks to coordination between heroic bystanders, the Middlesex Township Police Department, local 911 dispatchers, Quality EMS and the receiving hospital, the man survived.
Special guest Cheryl Rickens, an EMS specialist at UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside hospital in Pittsburgh, was present at the Middlesex Township board of supervisors meeting on Wednesday to honor those who stepped up to save the man’s life. These heroes were important links in what Rickens called the “chain of survival” — the series of steps necessary to save someone going through a sudden cardiac arrest.
These six steps, as defined by the American Heart Association, consist of: early detection, early CPR, early defibrillation, emergency medical services, advanced life support and recovery.
“The chain of survival is what we're celebrating here tonight,” Rickens said.
The initial 911 call came in at 8:10 the morning of Feb. 23, thanks to a bystander who witnessed the incident and who also happened to be a health care provider. According to Rickens, township police arrived “very quickly” — at 8:15 a.m.
“They’re not only trained in police work but in medical emergencies,” Rickens said. “They know how to do CPR. They have police-issued AEDs.”
Together with the bystander, they performed defibrillation on the patient until Quality EMS arrived at 8:22 a.m., seven minutes after the police showed up.
Ultimately, when the patient arrived at a local hospital, he received life-saving triple bypass surgery.
“What caused his cardiac arrest was blockages in his coronary arteries, and you can see that from the EKG,” Rickens said. “All of that information is gathered by EMS, pre-hospital, and then it can be shared with the receiving hospital so when they roll into the hospital, they can be fast tracked to have excellent and quick care. That makes a huge difference.”
The good Samaritan who started the lifesaving process was unable to attend Wednesday night’s meeting. However, Rickens did hand out certificates, pins and Life Savers candy to six of the other individuals who also assisted in the lifesaving effort.
These were paramedic Sam Burke and EMTs Ruth Trisch and Ashley Kort of Quality EMS, along with officers Chris Scalise and Collin Lawson, and Butler County 911 dispatcher Chris Beck.
Scalise could not attend either, so Sergeant Randy Davison accepted on his behalf.
“These are the people you would want, when you call 911, to respond on the other side,” Rickens said. “Your job really does make a difference, and in this case it was a life-saving difference. So thank you for everything you do.”
