When cardiac arrest occurs outside the hospital, survival rates are a grim 10%. The only hope for those experiencing cardiac arrest is bystander CPR and swift medical care.
Winston-Salem resident Jay Stone, 52, says he never thought he’d have a heart attack. While he had prediabetes and high blood pressure, he was active, saw his primary care provider, was making dietary changes to lower his blood sugar and wasn’t on any prescription medications.
So, when Jay started to feel unwell at work one day, he thought he might have food poisoning.
“I felt thirsty and nauseous, so I thought maybe I ate something wrong,” he says. “I didn’t have pain in my arm or chest or any of the heart attack symptoms I’m used to hearing about.”
His symptoms didn’t worsen and he was able to drive himself home. For the next few days, he felt completely fine.
“On Saturday, I worked in the yard and went to the hardware store,” he says. “Life was normal.”
On Sunday morning, Jay woke up early to get ready for church and had breakfast with his wife. Shortly after, his symptoms from earlier in the week returned.
He texted his neighbor, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist pediatric cardiologist Dr. Derrick Williams, telling Dr. Williams he didn’t feel well and asked him what to do. Williams was out of town and advised Jay to go to the hospital immediately.
Jay’s wife told their teenage children she was taking him to the emergency department or urgent care to get checked out. As soon as Jay stood up from the couch, he went into cardiac arrest and collapsed onto the floor.
Jay’s 19-year-old daughter and 16-year-old son called 911 and the operator instructed them to begin chest compressions right away. His son had recently taken a CPR certification class, so he began administering CPR. His daughter called Williams, who called his wife Dorey, a former cardiac ICU nurse.
As soon as Dorey arrived at the family’s home, she took over CPR. Jay’s family also contacted another neighbor, Dr. Sean Rudnick, a gastroenterologist at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist. He assisted Dorey with CPR until first responders arrived.
The fire department team shocked Jay’s heart three times with an AED, though this failed to restart his heart. They continued CPR until paramedics arrived. The paramedics administered epinephrine and gave him three more shocks with the AED, then put Jay in the ambulance to be transferred to the hospital.
Lifesaving eCPR protocol
Dr. Matthew Belford, an interventional cardiologist at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, was on call that weekend.
“We had just gone live with a new process called eCPR protocol,” says Dr. Belford.
With eCPR protocol, EMS will arrive at the scene of a cardiac arrest, take the patient’s vitals and administer CPR or an AED. But instead of continuing CPR onsite until the patient regains a heartbeat, they’ll use a Lucas Device in the ambulance to continue CPR while transporting the patient to the hospital as quickly as possible.
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist’s eCPR protocol is designed to enhance survival rates for patients experiencing cardiac arrest.
While Jay’s ambulance was on the way to the hospital, Dr. Belford and his team were already assembled in the cath lab and ready to treat him.
“Jay came straight to the cardiac cath lab,” says Belford. “He had two blocked arteries on the front left side of his heart.”
Belford placed two stents in Jay’s heart to open up his arteries. The procedure was successful.
Jay’s cardiac arrest recovery
Jay’s hospital stay after his cardiac catheterization went smoothly.
“He had a pretty short hospital stay with no arrhythmias or anything worrisome during his time in the hospital,” says Belford. “Jay has since received follow-up care in our clinic.”
Jay recovered at home for a week and he went back to work part-time about two weeks later. Now, a few months after his cardiac arrest, he’s back to work full-time.
Jay is in cardiac rehabilitation to support his recovery and has worked his way up to interval jogging and weightlifting. He’s also learning about nutrition and other ways to keep his heart healthy. He’s since lost 30 pounds.
“Cardiac rehab is incredibly important and has gotten me to where I am now,” he says. “I’m also really thankful to my family, neighbors, emergency response personnel and doctors for being at the right place at the right time and not giving up. I feel like it’s a whole new life. I can’t be thankful enough.”
Moving forward, Jay is prioritizing his health.
“I learned I needed to take my health seriously,” he says. “Now I realize how much it matters.”
CPR saves lives
“Early and aggressive bystander CPR is the reason Jay had such a good outcome,” says Belford. “If someone goes into cardiac arrest, you have to start CPR immediately. That was a game-changer for him.”
Belford and Jay both advocate for community members to get CPR training.
“If my son hadn’t been there and had not started CPR in those first three minutes before Dorey got there, I wouldn’t be alive,” says Jay. “Him being trained in CPR gave me that extra help.”
How to know if someone is in cardiac arrest
“If someone is unresponsive and doesn’t have a pulse, the first thing we want people to do is to start CPR,” says Belford. “We also want people to call 911 so paramedics can use an AED to reverse the arrhythmia that caused the cardiac arrest.”
If you think you or someone you know may be having a heart attack (which can lead to cardiac arrest), call 911 right away.
“When you call 911, you get the system moving,” says Belford. “EMS was already talking to me as the on-call doctor before Jay arrived. We were able to get a team in place in the cath lab to treat him as soon as he arrived.”
Learn more about cardiac care at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist.
