Post by HMWMDSpecialist on Mar 13, 2007 22:08:17 GMT -5
Local News Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Long-time volunteer helps save his own wife's life
By Liz Vargo The Record Herald
Published: Tuesday, March 13, 2007 11:32 AM CDT
E-mail this story | Print this page
UPTON- Three decades of emergency medical training came full circle for Bill Little in January when he made the call of his life.
Bill intended only to renew his first aid certification when he mistakenly wandered into an emergency medical technician class at Chambersburg Hospital more than 30 years ago.
That “mistake” evolved into Little's membership in more than a dozen local fire departments, the training of hundreds of EMTs and development of Medic 203 to serve the western end of Franklin County.
More importantly, it prepared Bill for the scariest night of his life.
On a late night in January, his wife Sue was watching television when she experienced trouble breathing.
Sue didn't realize what was happening, but no one had to tell Bill. They were the signs of cardiac arrest.
In the seconds, minutes and days that passed, Sue became one of a very small percentage of heart disease survivors.
“I got lucky because I had the best of the best,” she said. “Maybe that ... and God.”
Falling into EMS work
Now back to her near-normal self, Sue finds Bill's EMS initiation rather ironic. He never intended to take the training, she noted.
When the Littles moved to Franklin County in the 1970s, a neighbor came over to help them with yard work. Sue said the woman was directing Bill as he backed a pickup truck when the neighbor suddenly “disappeared” into a dug-out trench.
“The sides of the trench were caving in, and Bill jumped on top to save her,” Sue said. “She broke her arm.”
Bill's first aid card had expired, and the incident pushed him to renew it. However, he ended up in the wrong room at Chambersburg Hospital where an EMT class was scheduled.
“They asked me who I ran with ... and said I needed to belong to a fire or EMS company,” Bill said. When he couldn't get his money back for the course, he stayed.
Bill joined the fire department in Mercersburg. Then in Greencastle and Blue Ridge Summit. Marion, St. Thomas, Pleasant Hall and Mont Alto followed. Ultimately, Little began teaching the courses himself. Sue estimates that about 85 percent of EMS workers in Franklin County were trained by Bill.
Currently, Bill is a member of St. Thomas Volunteer Fire Department and president of Medic 2. He helped establish Medic 203 in the summer of 2000. The goal was to take emergency room practices outside a hospital setting and to those who need them in western Franklin County.
Although Sue sometimes grumbled about Bill's late-night emergency runs over the past three decades, she isn't complaining these days after a top-of-the-line team saved her life on Jan. 21.
‘A real drama'
For years, Bill has worked with emergency crews to reach Franklin County residents. The Littles never would have guessed they would need the services themselves.
Sue had been watching television when she tried to get up.
“I didn't know what was happening. I made it about 15 feet and at that point, just started gasping for air.”
Sue sat back down and rested. About 15 minutes later, she tried to get up again, looked at Bill and said, “I think I'm gone.”
“The passage of time changes in a situation like that,” Bill said. “What seems like two hours is two minutes, and what seems like two minutes is two hours.”
Bill settled Sue, called 911, lit a flare in his driveway and went back inside. When MMP&W ambulance and Medic 2 crews arrived, one worker said he was glad to see that Bill had responded to the call.
“This is my ... house!” Bill hollered.
When Bill could no longer feel Sue's pulse, he quickly made the choice to perform CPR. On the way to Waynesboro Hospital, Sue began breathing on her own.
“I remember not being able to move and being in a lot of pain,” she said.
The next day in the hospital, Sue experienced another episode and was transferred to Hershey Medical Center. All helicopters had been grounded by thick fog and icy temperatures, so Bill joined the Medic 2 mobile intensive care unit, and they drove nearly two hours to Hershey.
“It was a real drama,” he said.
Sue spent eight days at Hershey. Doctors said she had suffered a silent heart attack at some point. One artery was open, another was at 50 percent blocked and a third was completely blocked.
Today, she has returned to work at the couple's business, Greencastle Lock and Hardware, and is trying to get back on schedule. Minus some cardio therapy and medications, Sue said she feels relatively normal.
“A doctor at Hershey said, ‘You and God must be pretty good friends. That's all I'm going to say,'” Bill noted.
Best of the best
From the moment she stopped breathing, Sue said she had complete confidence in her husband and the Medic 2 crew.
“For years in Greencastle, people have always said that if they needed help, they wanted Bill,” she said. “I never thought he couldn't save me.”
Sue is one of an extremely small percentage of people to make it to the emergency room, through a tertiary care facility and back home nearly unscathed after suffering severe cardiac arrest. Bill and Sue say a quality system is to thank.
Medic 2 originally started in Franklin County in October 1983 and Medic 203 was established about seven years ago. Bill said the purpose was to take advanced life support out of the emergency room and onto the streets.
“These are the kinds of treatments a lot of patients can't wait until they get to the hospital for,” Bill said.
It was the vision of several local municipalities and benefactors that got Medic 203 off the ground. Antrim Township, Montgomery Township and others “really stepped up and showed a lot of vision and leadership,” Bill said.
The late John L. Grove also stepped up to the plate, Bill noted. Medic 203 initially was planned as a daytime unit, but Grove challenged them to make it a 24-hour service with his contributions.
Medic 203, housed at Rescue Hose Co., cuts down on crucial travel time in an emergency. It services Antrim, Montgomery and parts of Peters townships and the boroughs of Greencastle and Mercersburg.
“Look at the traffic on Route 16,” Bill said.
“From Waynesboro to Greencastle, it can be anywhere from 15 minutes to 45 minutes,” Sue added. “It's unbelievable, and there's nothing you can do about it.”
Medic 2 also constantly seeks grant money to update its skills and services to the community, Bill said.
The combination of quality services, highly trained crews and a blessing got Sue, and many other locals, through their toughest moments.
“This proves that it's do-able,” Bill said.
A heart-to-heart
Another issue raised by Sue's emergency is the high rate of heart disease among women.
Sue, who quit smoking nearly three years ago, has been living a healthy life and never considered herself a candidate for heart disease.
When Sue quit smoking, she developed healthier eating habits and started a more active lifestyle. She walked three to five miles a day and said she never had a problem before that episode.
“More women die from heart disease than breast cancer,” Bill said. “Heart disease and women do not get the attention they need.”
Cardiovascular disease is the largest single cause of death among women, according to the American Heart Association Web site. It accounts for 38 percent of all deaths among women. In the United States, 42.1 million women live with the disease, and the population at risk is even larger.
Sue is glad she knows as much as she does about emergency services. Many people who experience the situation she and Bill did try to take the patient to the emergency room themselves. But Bill noted Sue never would have made it.
“If I didn't know as much about the system, probably that night I would've said I'll just sit and I'll be OK in the morning,” she said.
“Most important in a traumatic emergency is to get on the scene and assess the patient,” Bill added.
The Littles are thankful their situation worked out for the best. Sue noted all the emergency work is volunteer, yet crews put their lives on the line daily for others.
“It's about goals, objectives and direction,” Bill said.
“I never though we'd be in the system,” Sue added.
Long-time volunteer helps save his own wife's life
By Liz Vargo The Record Herald
Published: Tuesday, March 13, 2007 11:32 AM CDT
E-mail this story | Print this page
UPTON- Three decades of emergency medical training came full circle for Bill Little in January when he made the call of his life.
Bill intended only to renew his first aid certification when he mistakenly wandered into an emergency medical technician class at Chambersburg Hospital more than 30 years ago.
That “mistake” evolved into Little's membership in more than a dozen local fire departments, the training of hundreds of EMTs and development of Medic 203 to serve the western end of Franklin County.
More importantly, it prepared Bill for the scariest night of his life.
On a late night in January, his wife Sue was watching television when she experienced trouble breathing.
Sue didn't realize what was happening, but no one had to tell Bill. They were the signs of cardiac arrest.
In the seconds, minutes and days that passed, Sue became one of a very small percentage of heart disease survivors.
“I got lucky because I had the best of the best,” she said. “Maybe that ... and God.”
Falling into EMS work
Now back to her near-normal self, Sue finds Bill's EMS initiation rather ironic. He never intended to take the training, she noted.
When the Littles moved to Franklin County in the 1970s, a neighbor came over to help them with yard work. Sue said the woman was directing Bill as he backed a pickup truck when the neighbor suddenly “disappeared” into a dug-out trench.
“The sides of the trench were caving in, and Bill jumped on top to save her,” Sue said. “She broke her arm.”
Bill's first aid card had expired, and the incident pushed him to renew it. However, he ended up in the wrong room at Chambersburg Hospital where an EMT class was scheduled.
“They asked me who I ran with ... and said I needed to belong to a fire or EMS company,” Bill said. When he couldn't get his money back for the course, he stayed.
Bill joined the fire department in Mercersburg. Then in Greencastle and Blue Ridge Summit. Marion, St. Thomas, Pleasant Hall and Mont Alto followed. Ultimately, Little began teaching the courses himself. Sue estimates that about 85 percent of EMS workers in Franklin County were trained by Bill.
Currently, Bill is a member of St. Thomas Volunteer Fire Department and president of Medic 2. He helped establish Medic 203 in the summer of 2000. The goal was to take emergency room practices outside a hospital setting and to those who need them in western Franklin County.
Although Sue sometimes grumbled about Bill's late-night emergency runs over the past three decades, she isn't complaining these days after a top-of-the-line team saved her life on Jan. 21.
‘A real drama'
For years, Bill has worked with emergency crews to reach Franklin County residents. The Littles never would have guessed they would need the services themselves.
Sue had been watching television when she tried to get up.
“I didn't know what was happening. I made it about 15 feet and at that point, just started gasping for air.”
Sue sat back down and rested. About 15 minutes later, she tried to get up again, looked at Bill and said, “I think I'm gone.”
“The passage of time changes in a situation like that,” Bill said. “What seems like two hours is two minutes, and what seems like two minutes is two hours.”
Bill settled Sue, called 911, lit a flare in his driveway and went back inside. When MMP&W ambulance and Medic 2 crews arrived, one worker said he was glad to see that Bill had responded to the call.
“This is my ... house!” Bill hollered.
When Bill could no longer feel Sue's pulse, he quickly made the choice to perform CPR. On the way to Waynesboro Hospital, Sue began breathing on her own.
“I remember not being able to move and being in a lot of pain,” she said.
The next day in the hospital, Sue experienced another episode and was transferred to Hershey Medical Center. All helicopters had been grounded by thick fog and icy temperatures, so Bill joined the Medic 2 mobile intensive care unit, and they drove nearly two hours to Hershey.
“It was a real drama,” he said.
Sue spent eight days at Hershey. Doctors said she had suffered a silent heart attack at some point. One artery was open, another was at 50 percent blocked and a third was completely blocked.
Today, she has returned to work at the couple's business, Greencastle Lock and Hardware, and is trying to get back on schedule. Minus some cardio therapy and medications, Sue said she feels relatively normal.
“A doctor at Hershey said, ‘You and God must be pretty good friends. That's all I'm going to say,'” Bill noted.
Best of the best
From the moment she stopped breathing, Sue said she had complete confidence in her husband and the Medic 2 crew.
“For years in Greencastle, people have always said that if they needed help, they wanted Bill,” she said. “I never thought he couldn't save me.”
Sue is one of an extremely small percentage of people to make it to the emergency room, through a tertiary care facility and back home nearly unscathed after suffering severe cardiac arrest. Bill and Sue say a quality system is to thank.
Medic 2 originally started in Franklin County in October 1983 and Medic 203 was established about seven years ago. Bill said the purpose was to take advanced life support out of the emergency room and onto the streets.
“These are the kinds of treatments a lot of patients can't wait until they get to the hospital for,” Bill said.
It was the vision of several local municipalities and benefactors that got Medic 203 off the ground. Antrim Township, Montgomery Township and others “really stepped up and showed a lot of vision and leadership,” Bill said.
The late John L. Grove also stepped up to the plate, Bill noted. Medic 203 initially was planned as a daytime unit, but Grove challenged them to make it a 24-hour service with his contributions.
Medic 203, housed at Rescue Hose Co., cuts down on crucial travel time in an emergency. It services Antrim, Montgomery and parts of Peters townships and the boroughs of Greencastle and Mercersburg.
“Look at the traffic on Route 16,” Bill said.
“From Waynesboro to Greencastle, it can be anywhere from 15 minutes to 45 minutes,” Sue added. “It's unbelievable, and there's nothing you can do about it.”
Medic 2 also constantly seeks grant money to update its skills and services to the community, Bill said.
The combination of quality services, highly trained crews and a blessing got Sue, and many other locals, through their toughest moments.
“This proves that it's do-able,” Bill said.
A heart-to-heart
Another issue raised by Sue's emergency is the high rate of heart disease among women.
Sue, who quit smoking nearly three years ago, has been living a healthy life and never considered herself a candidate for heart disease.
When Sue quit smoking, she developed healthier eating habits and started a more active lifestyle. She walked three to five miles a day and said she never had a problem before that episode.
“More women die from heart disease than breast cancer,” Bill said. “Heart disease and women do not get the attention they need.”
Cardiovascular disease is the largest single cause of death among women, according to the American Heart Association Web site. It accounts for 38 percent of all deaths among women. In the United States, 42.1 million women live with the disease, and the population at risk is even larger.
Sue is glad she knows as much as she does about emergency services. Many people who experience the situation she and Bill did try to take the patient to the emergency room themselves. But Bill noted Sue never would have made it.
“If I didn't know as much about the system, probably that night I would've said I'll just sit and I'll be OK in the morning,” she said.
“Most important in a traumatic emergency is to get on the scene and assess the patient,” Bill added.
The Littles are thankful their situation worked out for the best. Sue noted all the emergency work is volunteer, yet crews put their lives on the line daily for others.
“It's about goals, objectives and direction,” Bill said.
“I never though we'd be in the system,” Sue added.
