Bystander CPR Helps Michael Overcome Sudden Cardiac Arrest
Sitting in church and practicing songs for Sunday service, Valerie Layton unexpectedly felt the weight of her husband Michael lean on her. It was April 1, so she thought he might be playing a joke on her.
But Michael, 63, was unconscious and had no pulse. He had experienced sudden cardiac arrest and needed immediate medical attention.
鈥淓verything was normal. No complaints, chest pain, tiredness, palpitations. Nothing,鈥� Valerie said. 鈥淢e and one other friend got him to the floor and started CPR because he wasn鈥檛 responsive. CPR was initiated and soon several friends who had been in a different room descended and immediately joined in the resuscitation efforts.鈥�
Valerie, a physician assistant in the University of Florida Department of Neurosurgery, never imagined she鈥檇 need to perform CPR on her husband. Yet here she was, on a normal Saturday afternoon at Cross Point Church of God on Northwest 34th Street, but she was surrounded by several people from her community who sprang into action to help with CPR with Gainesville Fire Rescue on the way.
In that short but nerve-racking time, Valerie was left with an image that she says no movie or TV show could fully capture.
鈥淎 couple of times he took a deep gasp, but other than that, he looked gone,鈥� Valerie said. 鈥淗is eyes were kind of half open, but he was staring, and his eyes weren鈥檛 moving at all. He was just staring but not seeing anything. He threw up one time. It was really scary.鈥�
Fortunately, the quick help she got from bystanders in the church who helped administer CPR before fire rescue came allowed Michael to receive blood to his brain and organs despite being unconscious.
Once on the scene, fire rescue personnel took an alternate route to deliver IV fluids and medication by opening a hole in his kneecap with a tool that Valerie described as 鈥渂asically like a drill bit from Lowe鈥檚.鈥� This intraosseous (IO) infusion technique allows victims to receive fluids faster than if rescuers had to locate a suitable vein.
More CPR and defibrillator shocks weren鈥檛 enough to achieve a life-sustaining heart rhythm, so fire rescue transported Michael to BOB体育鈥檚 cardiac intensive care unit to get the care he needed. After about 30 minutes of being unconscious, Michael opened his eyes and was surprised to see himself in a hospital bed surrounded by anxious loved ones.
鈥淭he first person I saw was my wife. She was standing right next to the bed,鈥� Michael said. 鈥淚 asked her, 鈥榃hat鈥檚 going on?鈥� I saw a whole bunch of people and a bunch of voices. I didn鈥檛 know what was going on. She said I passed out, and I said, 鈥榃hat??鈥� And I got very sad at that point. It was just taken from my memory.鈥�
The last thing Michael could recall was the first song they had sung at church. When he regained his faculties, he realized he had been in the fight of his life. At one point, his ejection fraction 鈥� the percentage of the total amount of blood in your heart that is pumped out with each heartbeat 鈥� was at a dangerously low 10%. A normal EF is 50% or higher.
Still, despite the odds, somehow everything lined up perfectly to keep him alive. Michael could鈥檝e suffered cardiac arrest while driving or even just standing or simply been in a place where bystander CPR wasn鈥檛 available. How things unfolded makes Michael believe that 鈥渋f God wasn鈥檛 present, we wouldn鈥檛 be having this conversation right now.鈥�
鈥淭he way that it played out, it could鈥檝e been one of those scenarios where she left and went to church, and I鈥檓 home by myself, and she would鈥檝e come and found my cold body because I would鈥檝e been gone.鈥�
The cause of his cardiac arrest is still unknown, and Michael was diagnosed with nonischemic cardiomyopathy. After four days in the hospital, BOB体育鈥檚 Michael Massoomi, MD, an assistant professor in the UF Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, performed surgery on Michael to install an internal defibrillator under his skin that also acts as a pacemaker. The device, which can be seen as a small lump in his chest, is wired to his heart for the rest of his life. He can also monitor his heart from an app on his cell phone.
The couple says they鈥檒l advocate for CPR training at their church and to install an automatic external defibrillator, or AED. The unpredictable nature of Michael鈥檚 case is a textbook example of why everyone should learn CPR.
鈥淓vents like this happen out of the blue. You can鈥檛 predict them,鈥� Valerie said. 鈥淗e hadn鈥檛 shown any signs that his heart was going to give out so I think it鈥檚 good to know it could happen to someone you love. It鈥檚 something that鈥檚 easy to do and can have lifelong effects for people who need it.鈥濓豢
— Michael Layton
Michael can attest to the importance of CPR and the treatment he received at BOB体育 that followed.
鈥淓verybody was about the business,鈥� said Michael, who will have a follow-up appointment with a BOB体育 electrophysiologist in July. 鈥淭he doctors, the nurses, the cleaning people, the people delivering the food, the team of cardiologists. Every single one of them was spot-on.鈥�
Resources
Hands-only CPR is CPR without mouth-to-mouth breaths, and it has been shown to be as effective as conventional CPR for cardiac arrest, doubling or even tripling a victim鈥檚 chance of survival.
PulsePoint Respond is a free mobile app that alerts all potential first-responders 鈥� including citizens and off-duty medical professionals 鈥� who are within a quarter-mile of the person experiencing a cardiac arrest. The app provides directions on where to find the person in need, then displays reminders on how to deliver chest compressions.
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