Point Pleasant surfer saves Bay Head man using CPR

Written by Keith Ruscitti | Staff Writer

POINT PLEASANT — It was 28 years ago when Jeff Beverly took a cardiopulmonary resuscitation class.

Beverly signed up for the session months after witnessing his wife, Robin, suffer through a serious asthma attack, a situation which caught him off-guard and unprepared.

“I was in shock, I didn’t know CPR or anything,’’ said Beverly, 54. “I felt totally helpless.’’

Today, Bay Head resident David Turberfield is alive and recovering because of Beverly’s use of the resuscitation procedure. It was the first time the Point Pleasant resident has used the procedure.

During a surfing session off the Harris Street beach in Bay Head late in the afternoon on Oct. 17, Beverly observed Turberfield face down in the water to the south side of a jetty.

“At first, I thought it was one of my buddies playing a joke,’’ said Beverly. “Then I turned him over and he was gone.’’

An unconscious Turberfield, 47, was dressed in a full wet suit, according to the Bay Head police report, and Beverly said he spotted a board in the surf. Beverly carried the body to the shore line and then applied CPR.

“I was screaming for help and then just started with the chest compressions - pounding his chest really hard,’’ said Beverly.

At this time other surfers went to contact local police while Beverly tried to bring Turberfield back to life.

A few minutes later, Beverly said foam started coming through the drowning victim’s lips. Beverly gave him two more blasts of air through the mouth. Turberfield soon began coughing.

When Bay Head Patrolman Todd LaRue arrived, he observed Turberfield spit up saltwater. Turberfield had abrasions on the right side of his forehead, apparently from a spill he had taken in the surf a few moments earlier.

Eventually, Turberfield finally began breathing.

“When the police came he was finally breathing on his own we had him sitting up,’’ said Beverly, a surfer of 40 years. “First thing I said to him was ‘pal, you owe me a beer.’ ’’

The Point Pleasant First Aid Squad arrived along with paramedics to transport Turberfield to Ocean Medical Center in Brick. He’s recovering still and unwilling to talk about the traumatic experience, something Beverly understands .

“I mean he was every color but alive for 15 minutes,’’ said Beverly. “It was a gruesome act to go through. Luckily, (David) was in good shape.’’

Since then, family, friends and those in the community are celebrating Beverly’s heroism.

Point Pleasant Borough Mayor William Schroeder honored him with a certificate of appreciation on Tuesday night at the council meeting.

“I’m really not into all the hoopla,’’ said Beverly. “I just tried to save a man’s life.’’

MCHS graduate a hero by saving woman from drowning in Boston

Courage and quick thinking helped a 2011 Montgomery Central High School graduate save a woman from drowning in Boston's Charles River last month.

Daniel Howell said he was walking along the river around 1 a.m. on Oct. 9 with some friends, including a woman from a nearby college who had just met Howell the day before.

Howell said she had been drinking, and she stopped at a dock behind the university's sailing pavilion to vomit into the Charles River.

As she bent over the edge of a dock, she lost her balance and toppled into the river, Howell said.

When she didn't immediately resurface, Howell said his instinct took over. Without stopping to think about the temperature of the water or any other dangers, he took off his shirt and shoes and jumped in after her.

"I was yelling for somebody to get in the water and help me look, but nobody got in," he said, adding that there were about 25 people on the dock, including five of his friends.

Howell said once he realized there was no current, he began searching with his feet in the cold water. As the 6-foot-tall freshman at Boston University waded out from the bank, he said the depth of the water went from about five feet to just over his head.

Finally, after about two minutes of searching, Howell found the girl with his feet and immediately dove down to pull her unconscious body to the surface. Others came over to help him pull her out of the water, but the girl was still in danger.

"I got out of the water and everybody was yelling 'does anyone know CPR?' " recalled Howell, a pre-med student seeking a biology degree. "I was like, 'I know CPR.' "

Howell's mother, Brenda Langloss, is a nurse in the emergency room at Gateway Medical Center, but his CPR training actually came from a court order he received after he was caught speeding when he was 17.

Montgomery County Juvenile Court director Larry Ross said that sentence stemmed from a program the county started eight years ago, and Langloss said she called the courts to give them "kudos" for making her son take the class that may have saved a woman's life.

Jennifer Mehigan, Boston Emergency Medical Services Director of Media Relations, said emergency medical technicians and paramedics were called to the scene of the incident at 1:07 a.m., and Howell said they arrived just a couple minutes after he started performing CPR. Mehigan said the woman was taken to a hospital at 1:44.

Langloss said the woman is back at school and, though she doesn't remember the incident at all, she was obviously grateful for Howell's efforts.

"He has a great big heart," Langloss said. "It doesn't surprise me that he helped someone like that."

Boston University spokesman Colin Riley praised Howell's character and cooperation with police after the incident, which Riley said illustrated the dangers of excessive drinking.

"It's just a very telling story considering she wasn't feeling well and she probably would have drowned if he hadn't been there," Riley said.

Luke Thompson, 245-0248 lukethompson@ theleafchronicle.com

Two questions...

1) Do any of you know someone who is still ambulatory and has lost a family member to out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest and who has not taken a CPR course in the past two years?

2) Other than "the funeral is tomorrow" and similar reasons, can you think of any valid reasons for this?

If the answer to #1 is "yes" and the answer to #2 is not "no" please leave a comment and tell me what the answer to #2 is - I'm trying to compile a list.

Thanks,

Bob

Houston music critic in coma after heart attack on rail line

A 36-year-old music critic for the Houston Press is hospitalized at Memorial Hermann after suffering a heart attack Friday morning at a Metro train station.

Journalist Chris Gray was in a medically induced coma, according to a post on his Facebook page.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority reported on Friday morning that service was briefly interrupted after a patron suffered a heart attack about 9:15 a.m. at the Ensemble Theatre platform in the 3500 block of Main Steet.

The patient was transported to Memorial Hermann Hospital in serious condition, Metro said. Before Houston Fire Department paramedics arrived, a bystander performed CPR, the Houston Press reported. Meanwhile, friends, family and co-workers were unsure of Gray's whereabouts. Early Friday afternoon, messages on social media indicated that Gray's co-workers were trying to find him.

One of his friends read about the Metro happening, and called Memorial Hermann to confirm that Gray was a patient there.

Chronicle music critic Andrew Dansby said Gray has a passion for live music.

"He's committed to live music in Houston in a manner without parallel," Dansby said.

carol.christian@chron.com

[Bloger's note: If Chris Gray gets out of the hospital with major brain functions intact, the credit goes to the Bystander. If he doesn't, the Bystander still gets kudos for trying - it can't hurt, and it has a 2/3 chance of helping. Way to go, Bystander!]

Roy Exum: Hooray For Vanderbilt

Roy Exum: Hooray For Vanderbilt by Roy Exum posted October 29, 2011

Jim Askew, a 1956 graduate of Vanderbilt, is a longtime season ticket holder and desperately wants to watch his Commodores play Arkansas this afternoon, but his wife won’t let him. Before you go thinking that Mrs. Askew is a meanie, you should know that the last Vandy football game almost took Jim’s life.

Vanderbilt, so improved under new coach James Franklin, was in the midst of an exciting win over Army last week when Askew “began to feel weak. And from that point, I don’t know what happened,” he said.

The simple truth is he suffered a heart attack and he never saw it coming. He’d moved from his customary seats to sit high in the end zone early in the third quarter so he could better see the whipping the Commodores were putting on Army when suddenly he slumped over.

He remembers that Vandy had the ball at the 35 and the Commodores were leading, 23-6, at the time, but what he doesn’t recall were nearby fans racing to his side, beginning CPR and yelling for help. It took only seconds before Vanderbilt’s much-acclaimed LifeFlight Event Medicine team raced 70 rows up Vanderbilt Stadium and used a portable defibrillator to restore his breathing.

As a matter of fact, by the time they got to the bottom of the stairs Jim, age 77, was awake and wanted to know if Vanderbilt had scored on the drive. Assured the Commodores were doing fine, he was rushed to the nearby Vanderbilt Medical Center, stabilized, and told the Commodores had indeed won the game, the 44-21 score giving VU a commendable 4-2 record.

“It was such a great job on the behalf of everybody,” said Chad Hollingsworth, the paramedic who got the distress call. “This goes to show how important public-access AEDs are. What made this call so successful is it was a concerted effort: getting to the patient early, bystander CPR and early defibrillation with an AED on site. “We saved this person’s life with the most basic tools that we and the public have access to, and they were used properly and early,” he said, mindful of the fact Askew was at the hospital in just 15 minutes after the incident.

Early this week Vanderbilt cardiologists installed an implantable defibrillator and gave Jim permission to attend today’s game but his wife is having none of it. Apparently she wants to be sure the thing is working before the next home game against Kentucky on Nov. 12.

Other Vanderbilt football officials moved with lightning speed early this week after an embarrassing turn of events happened after the Army game. When Vandy players serenaded the crowd with the VU alma mater, the Army players and cheerleaders stood quietly. But when the Army players and cheerleaders took their turn, the Vandy players left the field and loud music over the public-address system drowned out the Army band.

Suffice it to say Vanderbilt’s football and basketball teams will have a new PA announcer this week. In addition, the athletic department issued the following letter on Oct. 25:

“To all of the men and women who attend and work at the United States Military Academy, their families, all graduates of USMA and their fans:

“We at Vanderbilt University would like to publicly offer our sincere apology for the events that occurred at the conclusion of our recent football game. While our football team performed our alma mater with our fans and band, the Black Knights, their band and cheerleaders, as well as their fans, stood at attention and honored us as would a worthy foe. However, after we were finished and the Black Knights began to perform their alma mater, our football team left the field and our loudspeaker blasted music that had the result of drowning out the performing of your alma mater.

“While there was no intention to be disrespectful, this was wrong and was a huge mistake on our part. There is no excuse for this oversight; we were just wrong and we are truly sorry.

“Make no mistake, the people at Vanderbilt University, our alumni and fans respect all that you do and have done for this nation. We are honored by what you stand for and we understand that this was not the way you should have been treated.

“On behalf of Vanderbilt University, please accept our apology for this mistake and oversight of your important protocol. You deserved better and we have learned from our mistake. We request your forgiveness.

Respectfully, Vanderbilt University

Sp. Fork first-grade hero saves classmate whose heart stopped .

Hilary M. Hendricks - Correspondent | Posted: Saturday, October 15, 2011 12:35 am Read more: http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/south/spanish-fork/article_fd165552-77f0-5d27-aee7-4af4b21949ac.html#ixzz1cBRt9qML

SPANISH FORK -- One minute he was playing with his friends at the start of PE class. The next minute, 6-year-old Logan Powell was lying unconscious and his friend was running to the teacher for help. Powell's heart and breathing had stopped.

Hallie Witt, also age 6, said her class was playing steal the flag outside when she noticed Powell lying face down on the grass. "So then I checked on him. When I rolled him over he did a gasp and I saw purple lips and slobber."

Witt knew to look for purple lips because her mom Katrina Witt had been ill over the summer and showed her daughters how to call for help should her oxygen levels drop.

Asking another friend to stay with Powell, Witt ran to the PE teacher.

"I grabbed onto her arm and I shaked her," Witt remembered. "I knew that would work because I do it to my mom a lot. I said, 'Logan's lying down on the floor and he's fainting.' "

Minutes later, Witt and her classmates were shepherded back inside the school. But their teacher, Jennifer Jolley, Powell's aunt, allowed Witt to stand by the window and watch the police and medical team arrive.

"I didn't think he would be OK," Witt said.

Lt. Steve Adams of the Spanish Fork Police Department said the 9-1-1 call from East Meadows Elementary School came at 11:30 a.m. Thursday. "There were officers already in the area, and the first arrived at the two-minute mark," about half the time an emergency response usually takes, Adams said.

The officer found three to four school personnel surrounding the boy on the grass. Two secretaries had begun CPR, according to school personnel.

Three minutes after the 9-1-1 call, another officer arrived with an automated external defibrillator, a medical device that can diagnose heart malfunction and shock the heart back into rhythm.

"The AED confirmed that a shock was needed, so that was administered," Adams said. "The officers then continued CPR until the highly trained ambulance personnel arrived."

Powell was transported first to Mountain View Hospital in Payson and then by helicopter to Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City. Doctors diagnosed him with Long QT syndrome, a genetic condition in which the heart races and then stops.

Powell's mother Laura Powell said that "before he leaves the hospital, he will have a tiny defibrillator placed in his chest. That will get his heart started right away if it stops again." Testing is underway to determine if his six siblings may have the condition as well.

Laura Powell said the doctors believe her son was not out of oxygen for very long because he's "improved so much faster than anyone expected." Although still in the pediatric intensive care unit, as of Friday night Powell was "talking, looking around, imagining" and the ventilator had been removed, said Laura Powell. "He's going to live and be fine."

To Powell's parents, the timing of the incident was "absolutely amazing," Laura Powell said. "If he had been playing in his room at home or asleep in the middle of the night when his heart stopped, we would have lost him."

The family credits Witt, as well as school and emergency personnel and the AED, with saving their son's life. "He's here because Hallie knew what to do," Laura Powell said. "She is truly a hero."

Lana Hiskey, spokeswoman for Nebo School District, said, "We are thrilled with how well our staff and the emergency personnel responded." Adams said of the rescue effort, "We're so grateful to arrive on a scene where people there are doing the right thing. The staff at East Meadows were appropriately dealing with the young man. From the location of the responding officers and the AED to the great service of the medical personnel, so many things were right in line to make this a perfect outcome."

Given the importance of immediate AED administration for victims of heart failure, last month the Nebo School District board approved funding for an AED in every school, with more than one in each high school. District personnel tested AED models to ensure the design they purchased would be optimally user friendly, Hiskey said. "You open the package and audio instructions tell you just what to do."

Laura Powell said that her son's experience has helped the school district make distributing the devices a priority, as well as training to go with them. "This can potentially save someone else's life, too," she said.

To read more about efforts to bring defibrillator awareness and training to communities, visit http://www.sads.org.

Read more: http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/south/spanish-fork/article_fd165552-77f0-5d27-aee7-4af4b21949ac.html#ixzz1cBRXBSVN

And that's not assuming that there is an AED nearby!

Thursday, October 27, 2011 - 12:33 PM By Jeff Henson Grande Prairie Research shows that someone suffering from cardiac arrest is four times more likely to survive if a bystander performs CPR before emergency crews arrive. However, the same stats show it is not performed in 85 percent of cases. STARS spokesperson Cam Heke says their organization is encouraging everyone to learn the procedure. "Affective CPR should be hard and fast, and obviously the better you perform it, the better the possible chance of surviving cardiac arrest as well as the long term outcome for that patient. So we are really encouraging the public to go and take a course." Heke adds you should also encourage your neighbours to learn CPR. He says the more people that know how to do CPR or how to use an automated external defibrilator betters your chances of surviving a medical emergency.