On that morning, I was riding Rescue 1 as the Paramedic Lieutenant with my partner, Tim Farry. We responded to a call for a man not breathing. Tim and I were at the residence within 3 minutes, and were led upstairs to a small bedroom where the homeowner and her brother were doing CPR on the woman's father.
To set the stage, the room was small. There was just enough room between the bed and dresser for the patient, and the woman was lying across the bed and hanging off to compress the chest. While her brother was ventilating from the foot of the bed, his feet in a closet. Tim moved to the patient's head (He, too, ended up in the closet) while I set the monitor up on the bed, and called for Engine 3 to assist.
Documenting ventricular fibrillation, I followed our protocols and defibbed the patient 3 times, each with no pulse. We continued CPR, and prepared to start an IV and intubate while the Engine 3 crew moved the dresser out of the room. As I started the line, Tim called to me that he couldn't drop the tube, because the patient was clenching his teeth.
I called to stop CPR, check the pulse, and grabbed for the monitor. Tim announced that a pulse was present as I looked to see a textbook Sinus Rhythm on the 'scope.
The patient opened his eyes.
We shifted gears abruptly, administering oxygen by non-rebreather, and calling for medical control while we gave the IV lidocaine. The doctor ordered a lidocaine drip, and the patient began to speak, telling us how he'd been uncomfortable all day, and then felt himself blacking out while building his granddaughter's new dollhouse. He was alert to day, time, and place, and his chest, oddly enough, felt sore.
We brought the patient to Ellis Hospital, where it was determined that he had a broken pacemaker wire, and he was transferred to another hospital for implantation of a new pacer before we were finished with our paperwork.
Neither the patient, nor his family,
may remember that day. If, for them, it was Just Another Christmas, I'm very happy. I, on the other hand, will always know that Tim and I helped save Christmas for that family. And I'll always have proof that CPR, along with early electrical intervention, really does save lives.