“Now, please listen to this 911 call, which came in to our dispatch center right here in San Diego … .”
Jim Dunford, medical director for the city of San Diego, was welcoming a standing-room-only audience of nearly 2,000 people to the Emergency Cardiovascular Care Update Conference in early December. They had gathered to hear Dr. Mickey Eisenberg’s opening keynote on the 50th anniversary of CPR. As the lights dimmed to black, the audience fell silent. The tape began with the voice of emergency medical dispatcher Cathie McGee asking, “Where is your emergency?”
The caller, Thelma Moore, had dialed 911 after hearing her husband, Paul, (age 59 at the time) collapse in the bathroom. Thelma’s anxiety was palpable, but EMD McGee calmly assessed the situation, immediately dispatching units and reassuring Thelma that help was on the way. After giving a few more brief instructions, she began counting with Thelma in the familiar cadence of CPR.
The audience listened, transfixed. As the recording ended with first responders arriving at the scene, the lights came up slowly, with Paul and Thelma Moore appearing on the stage. Tom Aufderheide, president of the Citizen CPR Foundation (sponsor of the conference), introduced the couple and thanked Thelma for having the courage to act to save her loved one’s life. The spontaneous standing ovation was cathartic. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house as Thelma gave her heartfelt thanks to the system and training that enabled her to become her husband’s rescuer.
Thus opened the conference and the “50 for 50” Golden Anniversary of CPR Survivor Celebration, in which 50 survivors of sudden cardiac arrest, hailing from as far away as Great Britain, gathered to celebrate the 50th anniversary of CPR.
These events held special meaning for me, as our company helped produce both the conference and the anniversary event. When we first thought of bringing together 50 survivors to mark the 50th anniversary, I only had a vague notion of how logistically complex it would be, but I definitely knew that having survivors would add power and inspiration. It was even more than I expected.
The entire event was coordinated by Conni Nardo, our special projects manager. Jenifer Goodwin, Best Practices’ associate editor, interviewed survivors and documented their stories for a special booklet, CPR Saved My Life: 50 Survival Stories. The booklet and all the supporting materials were designed by Robyn Thiele, BP’s art director. John Amato of WorldPoint, Debbie Seagle of the American Red Cross, Maureen O’Connor of San Diego’s Project Heart Beat and Sandra Clarke of the ACT Foundation of Canada were all key players in the event’s success. It was truly a team effort.
From 2-year-old near-drowning victim Kinlee Ryne Keltner to Tom Jeffers, 42, vice president of public policy for OnStar, to 25-year-old Joel Scott (who was lucky enough to have an AED available during a wilderness medicine river rafting trip in Mexico), each survivor had a unique story to tell. They really only had one thing in common: CPR saved their lives. It was profound how in just a few days, the survivors bonded, finding in each other the answers to questions no one else even knew to ask.
The events culminated with a special dinner held at SeaWorld San Diego, where the 50 survivors and 500 guests met with Dr. James Jude and Dr. Guy Knickerbocker, two of the three inventors of modern CPR. Nicholas Kouwenhoven represented his grandfather, the late Dr. William Kouwenhoven, the third inventor of CPR.
Following protocol ...
Seated at my table were Paul and Thelma Moore and also Dr. Jeff Clawson, inventor of the Priority Dispatch System and co-founder of the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch (NAED). It was the NAED that certified the training that EMD McGee received; it also approved her dispatch center as an Accredited Center of Excellence. When she provided telephone instructions to Thelma, she was following the protocols initially developed by Clawson and refined over time.
These special dynamics played out again and again with our 50 survivors, their rescuers and sponsors. It was a privilege to be a part of what for many will be a once-in-a-lifetime occasion. It brought into full focus what training, advocacy and collaboration can accomplish.
Keith Griffiths can be reached at publisher@emergencybestpractices.com.
