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Wis. EMS providers save unresponsive truck driver after crash

The semi truck the driver was in veered off the road, hit a tree and took down electrical wires before EMS providers found the driver unresponsive

By Bill Novak
The Wisconsin State Journal

MADISON, Wis. — A pulseless, non-breathing truck driver was resuscitated on Christmas Eve by Madison Fire Department paramedics, who had to administer six shocks before his heart started beating again.

The incident happened at about 11:30 a.m. Monday near Westgate Mall.

The semi truck the driver was in veered off the road, hit a tree and took down electrical wires near the mall on Whitney Way.

“First responders found the 56-year-old male driver pulseless and not breathing,” said MFD spokeswoman Cynthia Schuster.

Witnesses said and evidence showed the truck was moving at slow speed when the crash happened.

EMTs and paramedics first put the semi into “park” and put on the emergency brake.

“They loaded the driver onto an ambulance cot,” Schuster said. “Heart monitors indicated he had a shockable rhythm, and one shock was immediately delivered.”

The man remained unresponsive, so life saving medication and five more shocks were delivered over the next 10 minutes.

“As paramedics prepared to deliver a seventh shock, the system indicated no shock was advised, and the man’s pulse had returned,” Schuster said.

The unidentified truck driver was taken to UW Hospital.

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