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Wednesday, July 13, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
CELEBRATION: CPR
is critical to survival
for cardiac arrest
Continued from page 1
“Ed was clinically dead at
that point,” Fire Chief Roger
Johnson recounted.
Morrell jumped into
action — despite the fact that
he didn’t actually “know”
CPR.
The career Navy veteran
told The Nugget, “I’ve seen
a lot of training tapes, but
I never had a course. I was
kind of flying by the seat of
my pants.”
Immediate action was
critical, though, if his friend
was to have a chance. Morrell
knew he was on the verge of
death. Not acting was not an
option.
“I figured if I didn’t do
something, he wasn’t going
to be around,” Morrell said.
While Morrell performed
chest compressions, his
friend Stan Kunzman ran
to the neighbor’s house.
As Chief Johnson noted,
the neighbor wasn’t just
any neighbor; “he was the
dream neighbor” — a vol-
unteer captain with Sisters-
Camp Sherman Rural Fire
Protection District.
Captain Doug Myers ran
to the scene and took over
CPR while calling for addi-
tional help over his radio.
Firefighters from the nearby
Squaw Creek Canyon station
responded with an Automated
External Defibrillator (AED)
and an ambulance was dis-
patched from downtown
Sisters. When the AED was
placed on the patient, it
indicated a shock should be
delivered. Personnel defibril-
lated the patient and contin-
ued CPR. Shortly after the
CPR resumed, Pond began
to breathe on his own and the
responders could feel a pulse.
Shortly after that, “the
cavalry” arrived in the form
of the ambulance crew and
other units from Sisters,
with eight more personnel
and the capability to admin-
ister advanced life-saving
techniques.
Pond was transported by
the Sisters-Camp Sherman
RFPD ambulance to a heli-
copter landing zone near the
scene. The patient was trans-
ferred to LifeFlight person-
nel who treated the patient as
he was flown to St. Charles
Medical Center in Bend.
Pond not only survived
his ordeal, he is thriving.
He told The Nugget that he
is “98 percent back to nor-
mal — and I’ve lost about 20
pounds, which doesn’t hurt
anything.”
Chief Johnson presented
Morrell and Kunzman with
Citizen Life Saving Awards
for their quick action that
helped pull their friend back
from the brink.
Johnson told The Nugget,
“This is a textbook example
how bystander CPR and pro-
fessional rescuers with an
AED can save a life.” (See
sidebar.)
Fire District Board
President Chuck Newport
told the assemblage that the
district’s personnel train hard
and work hard.
“Tonight we get to see
how that pays off,” he said.
The ceremony brought
home the extensive and intri-
cate web of personnel and
capabilities required to save
a life at the ragged edge of in
extremis.
There were Deschutes
County 9-1-1 call-takers
Christina Rodenbiker and
Sara Cima, and dispatcher
Steve Ward, who also vol-
unteers with the district.
And there was a LifeFlight
helicopter crew and an emer-
gency room staff that ensured
that the first responders’ suc-
cess would be sustained.
From the Sisters depart-
ment, Chief Johnson rec-
ognized the crew of Engine
723, the first on the scene:
Captain Doug Myers; volun-
teer firefighter Roy Dean and
volunteer firefighter Mike
McLaughlin, who was pre-
sented with a special medal
for his efforts.
The ambulance crew of
Unit 771: Fire Medics Matt
Millar; Pat Burke; and Lt.
Cody Manzi, along with vol-
unteer firefighters and EMTs
Christi Davis and Graham
MacDonald were also recog-
nized, along with the crew of
Unit 791: Shift Commander
Thornton Brown; volunteer
firefighter EMT Andrew
Blake. Deputy Chief Tim
Craig was also recognized.
The evening stirred emo-
tions in many of the attend-
ees, in part because it is
surprisingly unusual for a
lifesaving crew to get the
opportunity to meet with
and receive the gratitude of
someone whose life they
saved. It may be all in a
day’s work, but it’s a day’s
work that carries profound
significance for everyone
involved.
CPr can be critical life-saver
Ed Pond’s friends helped
to save his life when he col-
lapsed in cardiac arrest last
April (see story, page 1).
Sisters Fire Chief Roger
Johnson says that knowl-
edge of CPR is a critical skill
that can mean the differ-
ence between life and death.
In fact, effective bystander
CPR can double a person’s
chances of survival.
About 75-80 percent of
out-of-hospital heart attacks
occur at home, so knowledge
o CPR may save a loved
one’s life.
CPR help maintains
vital blood flow to the heart
and brain and increases the
amount of time that elec-
tric shock from a defibril-
lator can be effective. In
sudden cardiac arrest, the
victim collapses, becomes
unresponsive to gentle shak-
ing, stops normal breath-
ing and after two “rescue
breaths” still isn’t breath-
ing normally, coughing or
moving.
Brain death starts to occur
four to six minutes after car-
diac arrest if no CPR and
defibrillation occurs.
Sudden cardiac arrest is
lethal; about 95 people who
go into sudden cardiac arrest
die before reaching the hos-
pital. Death is not inevitable,
however. If more people
knew CPR, more lives could
be saved, according to the
American Heart Association.
The Sisters fire district
offers basic CPR classes on
a monthly basis. For infor-
mation call 541-549-0771
or register online at www.
sistersfire.com — click CPR.
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