West Georgia Neighbor
By Tom Spigolon @TSpigolonNBR
Two Paulding emergency medical responders’ successful efforts to revive a cardiac arrest patient whose heart had stopped earned them honors during a recent awards banquet.
They were in a group honored for outstanding service to their communities at the 40th annual Northwest Georgia Region 1 Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Council Awards Banquet March 14.
The annual banquet honored emergency medical services providers and stakeholders from Paulding, Bartow and 14 other counties for excellence in pre-hospital care, education, pioneering and special achievements.
Among the major 2019 Northwest Georgia Region 1 EMS award winners were paramedic Bill Walthour and AEMT Kasey Rollins of Metro Atlanta Ambulance Service in Paulding County who won the the Tommy Gayler Medical Call of the Year award.
On Dec. 9, 2018, Walthour and Rollins were on board Metro Atlanta Ambulance Service Paulding County Unit 804 when they responded to a call about a 29-year-old man in cardiac arrest.
“Per the patient’s girlfriend, who was also the 911 caller, the patient was sitting on the couch watching TV when he went unconscious,” said spokesperson Jennifer King of the Georgia Department of Public Health.
“When 804 arrived on scene the patient was not breathing and had no detectable pulse.”
The crew administered an epinephrine IV push and the patient’s heart responded by changing the rhythm from a non-shockable rhythm into ventricular fibrillation “which the paramedic could use the defibrillator on to try to shock his heart back into a viable rhythm,” King said.
The patient responded positively to the defibrillation and a return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) was obtained, she said.
“At that point the crew continued to provide lifesaving interventions and transported the patient emergency to WellStar Paulding Hospital,” King said. “After a lengthy hospital stay, he was discharged from the hospital on (Dec. 23) in time to spend Christmas at home.”
At the same event in Waco March 14 other major 2019 Northwest Georgia Region 1 EMS awards were presented, including:
♦ EMS Region 1 Person of the Year — The One: Scott Stephens, Region 1 EMS-C Chair.
♦ David Loftin Pediatric Call of the Year: Jeremy Thompson and R.G. Hice, II of AdventHealth Murray EMS, Murray County.
♦ Dr. Richard A Gray Excellence in Trauma Award: Alex Case, Cody Doyle and Kyle Cross of Puckett EMS North Georgia, Dade County.