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| Home > Healthy People > October 2002 |
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October - December, 2002 |
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Tee time turns to tragedy until nurse golfers step in
Kurt Jahn reunites with Cecil Douglas and Paula Gallegos, the two St. John's nurses who saved his life at Horton-Smith Golf Course in Springfield. |
When 50-year-old Kurt Jahn left his Ozark residence on a warm October morning last year to play a round of golf at Springfield's Horton Smith Golf Course, his mind was on his drive, not on his heart.
But Jahn's day was cut short on the 11th hole. While he was watching a co-player take his swing, his heart stopped and he fell to the ground, unconscious, which caught the attention of two St. John's regional Health Center nurses<Cecil Douglas R.N., and Paula Gallegos, R.N.<who were playing the hole in front of him. Douglas and Gallegos began CPR while one of Jahn's friends ran to the clubhouse to call 911.
"We got his pulse back and continued CPR until the ambulance got there. It was really hard to know what was going on in his body because we didn't have any equipment, but if we had not done anything he would have lost his life," Gallegos says.
Douglas says it took the ambulance about 15-20 minutes to get there and both nurses helped hook up the IV and get his pulse back.
"He (Jahn) was originally going to be our golf partner," Douglas says. "It is things like this that make you realize how fragile life is. We just felt really great that we could help."
The ambulance then took Jahn to St. John's Cardiac Care Unit (CCU). The nurses continued their game, and called the next day to see how he was doing. Later they visited Jahn, but he didn't remember them. Jahn says he didn't remember anything up to five days after the accident except what his sister and brother-in-law told him about the nurses and their help. Finally, on the eleventh day of being in the hospital, Jahn was allowed to return home to recuperate.
According to St. John's Cardiovascular Specialist Stanley Wiggins, M.D., sudden cardiac death, which Jahn experienced, occurs when there is a chaotic electrical storm in the heart. The heart stops, and the patient passes out.
"I never had any heart problems before," Jahn, who is a retired Marine, says. "I sure am glad those nurses were there. They saved my life."
Wiggins says sudden cardiac death is one heart problem commonly seen in St. John's electrophysiology lab. The electrophysiology lab was opened by Wiggins in June of 1992 and allows him to study abnormal heart rhythms. Wiggins says that the lab was opened to meet the need of the community. He is the only physician who uses the lab due to his specialization. Since its inception, Wiggins has performed all 900 procedures that have been done in there.
The lab allows Wiggins to study electrical circuits to see if there is a short that may explain why a patient passed out or if he/she has had a cardiac arrest.
The implanted cardio defibrillator (ICD) is a sophisticated pacemaker. Wiggins says that while a pacemaker helps to speed a heart rhythm that is too slow, a defibrillator helps to speed up a rhythm that is too fast. Wiggins did an electro study of Jahn's heart and found out its rhythm was slower than it should have been, and implanted this device.
He says ventricular fibrillation is one of the most common causes of cardiac arrest. Sudden death tends to parallel coronary disease, Wiggins says and most people that have sudden death also have some other heart abnormality to go with it. When a defibrillator is implanted, Wiggins says there are certain lifestyle changes that the patient has to be aware of, such as getting around large magnetic equipment or engaging in any kind of contact sports, but Jahn says the device doesn't affect his everyday life and often forgets it is there.
Wiggins says that when the heart is in ventricular fibrillation the heart is not pumping blood like it should and CPR compresses the heart to try to keep the blood circulating out of the heart.
"As a result of the rapid action of those nurses Jahn was saved," Wiggins says. "Because heart diseases and sudden death parallel each other as heart disease becomes more prevalent so will sudden death and more people will find themselves in a position where they may have to administer CPR."
Jahn says that he still gets tired, but he continues doing the things he loves.
"I don't do quite as much as I used to," Jahn says. "I still participate in my bowling league and walk about 15 minutes a day, or until I'm tired. I am happy to be alive. I live life to the fullest and treasure my friends and family. I am also continually reaffirmed that someone is on my side."
Wiggins says it would take Jahn about a year to recover, but Jahn says he can't wait to challenge the nurses to another round of golf. |
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