When a person suffers sudden cardiac arrest, minutes or even seconds can make the difference between life and death.
Those fleeting seconds are often not enough time for Emergency Medical Service providers to get to the scene.
The city of Durango recognized the lifesaving efforts of Kim Ebner, aquatics operations supervisor at the Durango Community Recreation Center, and her lifeguard team last week for their quick response to a situation on Feb. 28.
Durango Parks and Recreation Director Kelly Schmidt said at a City Council meeting last week that Ebner and lifeguards Karin Romero, McKenna Armstrong, Ben Ward, Jeremy Herron and Zach Savilla helped revive an 85-year-old man who had a cardiac arrest in between pickleball games at the rec center.
The man was catching a breather between games when his heart stopped beating. An observant player noticed something was wrong and quickly alerted staff, she said.
Recreation center staff member Ben Ward was tending to the center’s rock climbing wall when he overheard the player talking about the man in trouble.
He retrieved an automated external defibrillator and went to the gym to help the man.
Zach Savilla, another recreation staff member, was off-duty, but noticed what was going on and went to help.
“In less than two minutes, additional recreation center first responders Kim Ebner, McKenna Armstrong (and another first responder) arrived and started assisting with care,” Schmidt said.
After applying the defibrillator once, Ebner checked if the man had a pulse. She found one and saw his chest rise, indicating he was breathing.
At that point, emergency medical technicians arrived and took over from there. The man survived because recreation center staff promptly gave him care.
“Survival rates in sudden cardiac arrests are, quite frankly, dismal,” said Durango Fire Protection District EMS Chief Scott Sholes.
Heart Safe La Plata is a movement by local emergency responders to have AEDs in places where many people often congregate.
Sholes said Heart Safe La Plata currently has 370 publicly accessible AEDs. The program also certifies and recertifies about 1,000 people every year to use AEDs and perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR.
“I’d like to thank the city of Durango for being a longtime supporter of Heart Safe La Plata,” he said. “This program has AEDs in many, many public spaces, all of our schools, all law enforcement agencies. And of course, there’s this amazing commitment to safety of all of the people who use the rec center.”
“This program is truly lifesaving,” he added.
He said the man’s cardiac arrest was a common scenario in which people used to die. But thanks to Ebner and attentive staff, and the technology in place, the man survived.
“I just want to say congratulations to Kim and her team,” he said.
cburney@durangoherald.com
A previous version of this story misspelled Karin Romero’s first and last name. Incorrect information was given to the Herald.
