CPR in action saves Petaluma woman’s life

On an otherwise typical Wednesday, Lynn King was making a phone call at the law office she shares with her husband, Petaluma City Councilman Dave King.

It was an unassuming moment, but one now etched in her mind forever. That morning of Aug. 19, her heart stopped beating.

Paramedics were soon rushing to the scene, up against a six-minute window of opportunity in which treated victims of cardiac arrest are considered to have the best chance of recovery. What happened in the few minutes to come would be crucial to King’s survival, and would depend in a large part on whether people around her knew often life-saving CPR and were willing and ready to act.

Becoming prepared

Efforts to train and equip a wide swath of everyday Petalumans to respond to cardiac arrest have accelerated in recent years, following the formation of a county-wide group known as Save Lives Sonoma in 2009. Composed of emergency responders and health organizations like the Petaluma Health Care District, Petaluma Fire Department, Rancho Adobe Fire Protection District and others, the group helps to coordinate CPR training and the donation of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) to schools and other facilities.

Hundreds of seventh-grade students in Petaluma have learned CPR in school through the program, along with others who have taken part in various public education events held at venues like the Butter and Egg Days parade. The effort has shown results. In April, 13-year-old Emmy Stephens, a student at Petaluma High School, guided her older sister Koko in performing the life-saving “hands only” chest compression technique on their unconscious mother, Tena Jackson.

“Any layperson with five minutes of training can do effective CPR before paramedics arrive, without doing mouth-to-mouth,” said Dean Anderson, general manager for American Medical Response, an ambulance company operating in Sonoma County that is a founding member of the Save Lives Sonoma group.

The Petaluma Health Care District also launched a HeartSafe Community initiative in 2013, a working group organizing efforts to improve cardiac emergency response in Petaluma. Around 1,100 individuals in Petaluma learn hands-only CPR through district-affiliated programs each year, according to the district.

Save Lives Sonoma has donated dozens of automated defibrillator devices in Petaluma, including a recent donation of an AED to the Rooster Run Golf Course. The small machines can be used by bystanders to jump-start a person’s heart in the event of cardiac arrest, and will also walk responders through the steps of performing CPR.

‘You just go’

Visiting the Kings’ law office that morning, Scott Pritchard, president of an organ transplant transportation company, was among the first to hear as news of Lynn King’s unfolding emergency.

Having first learned CPR while training as a paramedic two decades ago, Pritchard said he had stayed up to date on the hands-only technique. Aware that time was counting down, he reacted without hesitation.

“I was one of those rusty people. But you hear it, and you just go,” he said.

Pritchard said time seemed to slow down as ran to the scene, where he helped Dave King and others to lower Lynn King to the floor. He began performing CPR, and joined in with the other voices encouraging her to hold on.

He looked up to glance at the clock on her computer screen. It was 10:41. The clock was ticking.

The chain of survival

Emergency responders describe the intervention of trained bystanders as the first link in a “chain of survival” in which multiple participants play a role in the response to a cardiac emergency. Actions in those first few minutes are crucial in buying time for paramedics to arrive, said Dave Kahn, battalion chief with the Petaluma Fire Department.

“We only have a certain amount of time, and that is limited by bystander CPR,” he said.

Efforts are underway to improve that early response. Coastal Valleys EMS Agency, which coordinates emergency dispatch in Sonoma and Mendocino counties, is working as part of Save Lives Sonoma to implement a system that could automatically inform trained bystanders of a nearby cardiac emergency and of the location of AED devices.

In preparation for the rollout of the service, Save Lives Sonoma and its members are urging AED owners to register their devices through the Coastal Valleys EMS Agency, www.coastvalleysems.org. There are currently 42 AEDs registered in Petaluma, said James Salvante, EMS coordinator.

“Whatever system we go with, we need to know what AEDs are out there,” he said.

As a retailer for the devices, the Petaluma Health Care District also trains owners on proper use and offers a reminder service for battery replacement every two years. As the number of AEDs in the community grows, the district is also pushing for owners to ensure they are in working order, which requires a few minutes of upkeep every two years.

“There’s only one thing worse than not having an AED when you need it. It’s thinking you have an AED when you don’t,” said Ramona Faith, district CEO.

A new birthday

Pritchard said he was still counting chest compressions out loud to himself when paramedics took over less than five minutes later, stopping only when one responder made him aware of it. King was soon transported to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital for further treatment.

With the frenzy of activity suddenly vanished, a stunned Pritchard stepped outside for fresh air. It would be more than one month later when Pritchard and King would reunite, part of a ceremony in which the Health Care District recognized Pritchard for his intervention through its Golden Heart award.

Following an emotional thanks to Pritchard and the paramedics involved, a still-recovering King said she was looking toward the future.

“It’s my new birthday,” she said of that morning in August.

Dave King recounted with gratitude how the entire building seemed to mobilize around the sudden and shocking event, taking over his initial call to 9-1-1 and stepping outside to flag down emergency responders while he stayed with his wife. The event highlighted how such efforts, particularly those of Pritchard, can have a huge impact.

“The entire building is having a CPR training this week,” he said.

(Contact Eric Gneckow at eric.gneckow@arguscourier.com. On Twitter @Eric_Reports.)