What are the chances of this happening?!
A 55-year-old Nucla man who was finishing work on a construction site in Mountain Village on Monday suffered a cardiac arrest but was saved by the same co-worker and the same emergency medical services (EMS) crew who helped him before following similar circumstances.
The man's co-workers immediately began CPR and called 911. Within seven minutes, first responders arrived and were able to help the man who was taken to Telluride Medical Center Emergency Department in Telluride.
"This is a great example of why bystander CPR is so important. Without immediate, quality chest compressions, our EMS team would likely not have been able to save him," said Telluride Fire Protection District Paramedic Brad Blackwell.
This incident happened three years after the same man was saved by Telluride EMS back in August of 2012.
"Estimates of survival from an out of hospital cardiac arrest are around 10%," said Telluride EMS Medical Director Dr. Diana Koelliker. Survival after a second out of hospital cardiac arrest within a few years is even more rare, especially in such a small community as Telluride with many of the same coworkers, EMS providers and physician involved both times,” she said.
The man, who asked that his name not be released, spoke with an EMT Wednesday who provided care during both of his cardiac events. He said he is sore, but grateful. “You guys all did great. I don’t know how you pulled it off all the way up there on that mountain, but you did great,” he said.
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