by Geoff Fox
Hancock first responders were recognized for their lifesaving efforts on March 6 by the Washington County Division of Emergency Services, in collaboration with the Quality Assurance Office and Meritus Medical Center. Local ambulance staff, along with several other emergency incident responders, were given recognition for first responses which coordinated efforts between dispatchers, bystanders, EMS clinicians, firefighters, and hospital staff leading to patients surviving life-threatening medical emergencies and being discharged from the hospital neurologically intact.
Hancock Rescue Squad crew EMT Isaiah Neal, EMT Mollie Barnhart, Paramedic Isaiah Hahn, and Captain Casey McKnight; Hancock Fire Department’s Ben Hoopengardner and Pat McTigue; and ECC Specialist Bethani Memmert were those recognized.
photo courtesy of the Washington County Division of Emergency Services
Medic 591 responded to a residence for reports of chest pain and arrived to find the patient experiencing severe chest discomfort, sweating, and shortness of breath.
Crews performed a full assessment including vital signs, cardiac monitoring, and an EKG, identifying signs of an antero-septal myocardial infarction.
The patient was immediately provided advanced cardiac care and transport was initiated to Meritus Medical Center in Hagerstown with a STEMI alert activating the cardiac catheterization team.
During transport, the patient deteriorated and went into ventricular fibrillation cardiac arrest and crews rapidly delivered defibrillation and additional lifesaving interventions, restoring pulses.
The patient later received four cardiac stents and was discharged from the hospital neurologically intact, meaning his bran and nervous system were working as expected.
The recognition is part of the County’s Cardiac Arrest Save Recognition Program, which highlights the lifesaving work of emergency responders who regularly face the most critical moments in people’s lives.
“In many cases, EMS clinicians and firefighters provide rapid intervention and transport before immediately responding to the next emergency without ever learning the outcome of the patient they worked so hard to save,” said county officials about the events.
To qualify for the recognition, patients must have experienced “an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest or similarly life-threatening event in which resuscitation efforts resulted in a return spontaneous circulation and eventual discharge from the hospital with favorable neurological outcomes,” the county said. “According to national data from the Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival (CARES), only 8% to 9% of cardiac arrest patients nationwide survive to hospital discharge with good neurological function, making each successful outcome especially significant.”
