Celebrate With Us!! What an Easter Story :)
Some of the "facts" are off, but it is a good story!!!
Thank you, God! Keri
Some of the "facts" are off, but it is a good story!!!
Thank you, God! Keri
Brush with death Fast thinking, automated defibrillator save man after sudden heart attack
Even though he has told the story dozens of times, Dennis Watson is astounded with each retelling.
The tale of his brush with death involves a mysterious woman and a medical device few people have ever heard of.
Watson said he considers himself fortunate to still be alive to tell it. After all, these stories usually don’t have a happy ending.
Watson, 65, had a heart attack last month, while taking an afternoon stroll near his home in Lake Havasu City. Witnesses said an unidentified woman thought to be a physical therapist rushed in and started doing chest compressions.
Meanwhile, a worker at a nearby RV park frantically retrieved a defibrillator from his office. The device was an automated version, giving the rescuer verbal prompts as she tried to resuscitate Watson.
Witnesses said the woman calmly followed the steps, keeping Watson alive until paramedics arrived. After it was all over, she vanished before medical personnel could get her name.
“We certainly would like to thank that lady,” Watson said.
He called the woman a lifesaver, saying he wouldn’t be alive today had it not been for her. “There’s no doubt in my mind,” he said.
The statistics agree. Only 6 percent of those who go into sudden cardiac arrest survive before reaching the hospital, said David Gonzalez, public education specialist for the Lake Havasu City Fire Department.
Why? Few people know CPR and automated defibrillators like the one used to resuscitate Watson are even more uncommon.
Gonzalez said there are 27 automated external defibrillators in Lake Havasu City. Most are at churches, fitness centers, doctors’ offices and buildings operated by the city, such as the Aquatic Center. As of Thursday, only one school, Lake Havasu High School, had an AED.
“I think we should have more,” Gonzalez said.
In the past decade, there have been other saves, at least two that Gonzalez could remember. If more businesses had an AED, he said perhaps there might be more stories like Watson’s.
“If this saves one life, it pays for itself,” Gonzalez said.
Today Watson is slowly recuperating. He was released from Havasu Regional Medical Center earlier this month after having three stints put in his heart.
He and his wife, Leslie Watson, are spearheading an effort to get an AED at their RV park. They also hope to someday meet the woman who saved Dennis Watson’s life.
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The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of havasunews.com.
Keri wrote on Mar 21, 2008 5:15 PM:
" Thank you to everyone in Lake Havasu City who helped my dad, from Christie at the Islander to the staff of the ICU and Cath Lab at Havasu Medical! His daughters and granddaughters are forever grateful. "
LIFEGOESON wrote on Mar 21, 2008 12:35 PM:
" CONGRADTS TO YOU I work 911 for another agency and soon everyone of my officers will have a defib in their car if they all don't by now. They are the best thing ever invented. Even some of our rv parks have medical teams trained to do cpr and the defib it's great. "
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