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When Bill Grizzell arrived at the Lake Wildwood home of Jim Black, the paramedic trained in advanced life support started sweating as much as his new patient.
Grizzell had seen seven other cases of a burst aorta in the abdomen in his 18 years in the field, and two of those people had survived.
But Black would beat the odds in a story that tells as much about the daily heroism of paramedics as it does about the changing role of fire departments across the United States.
Grizzell works for the Penn Valley Fire Protection District which, like most, now responds more to medical calls than to fire calls, said district Fire Chief Gene Van der Plaats. In the case of Penn Valley, that proportion is about 72 percent, the chief said; but it's as high as 80 percent in Nevada County Consolidated Fire Protection District, Fire Chief Tim Fike said.
“Twenty years ago, we had many more fire calls,” Van der Plaats said. “People are more aware (of fire safety), we have better building codes and standards.”
While fire calls are down, medical calls are up 15 percent this year over last, pushing up overall calls for service to the district by 10 percent over last year, Van der Plaats said.
At Jim Black's home that day in October 2010, Grizzell saw Black's pallid face, found no blood pressure — and knew Black's heart was pumping his blood into the big man's abdominal cavity.
The descending aorta “is like the water hose that carries all your blood” to the body below the heart, Grizzell explained. When it bursts, “even if you're on the operating table, you still may not make it.”
Grizzell, fellow paramedic Doug Boan, and then-intern Eric Suarez (who also is a paramedic and now works for the district) went to work, giving Black fluids to boost his blood pressure and oxygen to keep his brain healthy. Even more importantly, because Grizzell recognized the symptoms of a life-threatening ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm, the crew lined up medical response farther up the line.
“Thanks to Bill, the (Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital) team was fully prepared and ready and directed their efforts toward confirming the AAA; alerted the Kaiser Trauma Center; and loaded me on the waiting CalStar helicopter for the flight to south Sacramento,” Black wrote in a letter of commendation he sent to the district on the one-year anniversary of his rescue. (To read the full letter, click on the dog-eared-page icon above.)
“Renown cardiovascular surgeon Dr. Victor Rodriguez had his surgery team and the Kaiser OR up and running, awaiting my arrival,” Black wrote. “Afterwards, Dr. Rodriguez states that Bill's accurate diagnosis of this uncommon medical trauma and his follow-up actions... undoubtedly saved my life.”
In Black's case, the region's emergency medical system worked the way it's meant to, Van der Plaats said.
But if station on Pleasant Valley Road, closest to Lake Wildwood, had not been staffed due to reductions in employees, and if paramedics would have had to come from the Spenceville Road station, Black may not be alive today to raise his teen daughter or enjoy his young grandchildren.
Responders call it the “golden hour,” the time-frame they have to get a victim to proper medical and still have a prayer of the patient surviving.
In such cases, the difference between life and death is counted in minutes. They're called “field saves” in the jargon, and the district sees four a five a year — cases where the emergency crew arrives to find a person with no breath and no pulse, and they leave with a living, breathing person.
In another 40 or 50 cases a year, “we really make a difference,” Grizzell added.
When thinking about them, Van der Plaats uttered a heart-felt “thank you” to Penn Valley residents who approved a rate increase last year that keeps both stations fully staffed.
If the Pleasant Valley station had been closed that day last October, “it could have added 5 to 7 minutes to respond to that call,” Van der Plaats said. “You lose that really important component of the first response.”
ooo
To contact Senior Staff Writer Trina Kleist, e-mail tkleist@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4230.
Grizzell had seen seven other cases of a burst aorta in the abdomen in his 18 years in the field, and two of those people had survived.
But Black would beat the odds in a story that tells as much about the daily heroism of paramedics as it does about the changing role of fire departments across the United States.
Grizzell works for the Penn Valley Fire Protection District which, like most, now responds more to medical calls than to fire calls, said district Fire Chief Gene Van der Plaats. In the case of Penn Valley, that proportion is about 72 percent, the chief said; but it's as high as 80 percent in Nevada County Consolidated Fire Protection District, Fire Chief Tim Fike said.
“Twenty years ago, we had many more fire calls,” Van der Plaats said. “People are more aware (of fire safety), we have better building codes and standards.”
While fire calls are down, medical calls are up 15 percent this year over last, pushing up overall calls for service to the district by 10 percent over last year, Van der Plaats said.
At Jim Black's home that day in October 2010, Grizzell saw Black's pallid face, found no blood pressure — and knew Black's heart was pumping his blood into the big man's abdominal cavity.
The descending aorta “is like the water hose that carries all your blood” to the body below the heart, Grizzell explained. When it bursts, “even if you're on the operating table, you still may not make it.”
Grizzell, fellow paramedic Doug Boan, and then-intern Eric Suarez (who also is a paramedic and now works for the district) went to work, giving Black fluids to boost his blood pressure and oxygen to keep his brain healthy. Even more importantly, because Grizzell recognized the symptoms of a life-threatening ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm, the crew lined up medical response farther up the line.
“Thanks to Bill, the (Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital) team was fully prepared and ready and directed their efforts toward confirming the AAA; alerted the Kaiser Trauma Center; and loaded me on the waiting CalStar helicopter for the flight to south Sacramento,” Black wrote in a letter of commendation he sent to the district on the one-year anniversary of his rescue. (To read the full letter, click on the dog-eared-page icon above.)
“Renown cardiovascular surgeon Dr. Victor Rodriguez had his surgery team and the Kaiser OR up and running, awaiting my arrival,” Black wrote. “Afterwards, Dr. Rodriguez states that Bill's accurate diagnosis of this uncommon medical trauma and his follow-up actions... undoubtedly saved my life.”
In Black's case, the region's emergency medical system worked the way it's meant to, Van der Plaats said.
But if station on Pleasant Valley Road, closest to Lake Wildwood, had not been staffed due to reductions in employees, and if paramedics would have had to come from the Spenceville Road station, Black may not be alive today to raise his teen daughter or enjoy his young grandchildren.
Responders call it the “golden hour,” the time-frame they have to get a victim to proper medical and still have a prayer of the patient surviving.
In such cases, the difference between life and death is counted in minutes. They're called “field saves” in the jargon, and the district sees four a five a year — cases where the emergency crew arrives to find a person with no breath and no pulse, and they leave with a living, breathing person.
In another 40 or 50 cases a year, “we really make a difference,” Grizzell added.
When thinking about them, Van der Plaats uttered a heart-felt “thank you” to Penn Valley residents who approved a rate increase last year that keeps both stations fully staffed.
If the Pleasant Valley station had been closed that day last October, “it could have added 5 to 7 minutes to respond to that call,” Van der Plaats said. “You lose that really important component of the first response.”
ooo
To contact Senior Staff Writer Trina Kleist, e-mail tkleist@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4230.
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