Summit County Citizens Voice

A practice session with an automated external defibrillator.

Responders use an automated external defibrillator to revive a heart attack victim at a Frisco restaurant

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Training, collaboration and up-to-date equipment paid off for local emergency workers last week as they used a life-saving electro-shock device to save a local man who suffered a heart attack at a Frisco restaurant.

Frisco Police officers responding to the emergency 9-1-1 call  at Carlos Miguel’s restaurant, where they used an automatic external defibrillator, or AED, to help a 65-year-old Silverthorne man regain his pulse.

“This case really exemplifies how a system can work together to save a life” says Summit County Ambulance Director Marc Burdick. “From the trained bystanders to the police department to the fire and ambulance, the hospital and Flight-For-Life, everyone worked hard and performed as we train.”

A cardiologist vacationing from California who was dining at the restaurant initiated CPR along with other bystanders until emergency responders arrived and used the AED, which is one of 180 units distributed throughout Summit County through the Keep The Beat Summit  public-access defibrillation program. A 9-1-1 dispatcher was able to determine that the man was in cardiac arrest and guided the bystanders in medical response.

Crews from the Summit County Ambulance Service and Lake Dillon Fire-Rescue arrived moments later and continued with advanced life support and transported the patient to St. Anthony’s Summit Medical Center. He subsequently was taken by Flight-For-Life helicopter to St. Anthony’s Central Hospital in Denver, and is expected to make a full recovery.

“This response clearly exemplifies the value of having AEDs deployed throughout the county, combined with the training and teamwork that is delivered by our first response level of emergency medical services from the ambulance, fire and law enforcement entities who were dispatched to this call,” said Lake Dillon Fire-Rescue Chief David Parmley.

The Keep The Beat Summit program began in 2005 through a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and is administered by Summit County Ambulance Service. While other devices have been used 22 times since the program began, this is the first known “save” in the history of the program.  For more information on Keep The Beat, see www.keepthebeatsummit.com.

Filed under: Summit County Colorado Tagged: | AED, automated external defibrillator, emergency response, Lake Dillon Fire Rescue, life saving, Summit County Ambulance, Summit County Colorado, Summit County News, Summit medical services