FAST ACTION SAVES LIFE

Casino workers revive GV man after heart attack

You don’t have to win money to get lucky at the Desert Diamond Casino, says Green Valley resident Bill Ryan, 64, who learned that last month after a critical medical emergency.

Ryan won much more than cash at the casino’s blackjack tables the evening of June 16. He won back his life, thanks to quick-acting casino employees trained as Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) who, he says, literally revived him from death following what was later diagnosed as a full cardiac arrest.

“We were playing blackjack, drinking hot chocolate and having a great time with our friend Pam Brown from Green Valley,” he said, “when I became very dizzy. I turned to my wife Joyce, said her name, and passed out, falling out of the chair face-down on the floor. Within seconds, the EMTs were on me , giving me CPR and defibrillator treatments.”

The casino employees who witnessed this called 9-1-1 and, within minutes, paramedics from Southwest Ambulance arrived to take him to a Tucson hospital, his wife said.

“The doctors at the hospital told me I had a full cardiac arrest and the paramedics at the scene told my wife I was dead before I hit the ground,” Ryan said.

“If I had not been there on that night and been anywhere else, I would be dead right now,” Ryan continued.

“I want to thank the Desert Diamond Casino, the owners, management, security personnel and other employees for the professional way the casino selects, trains and takes pride in the service, safety and treatment of patrons,” he said.

Scott Sirois, CEO of the Tohono O’odham Gaming Enterprise, viewed a videotape of the Ryan incident last week and praised his employees, Brandon Thomas, Enrique Rodriguez, Raul Corrales and Tabitha Collister, for their swift response to the medical emergency.

The CEO said employees informed him that Ryan had no pulse and was not breathing before casino EMTs administered CPR and utilized an Automated External Defibrillator, a portable automatic device used to restore normal heart rhythm to patients in cardiac arrest.

Sirois said the casino has employed EMTs on its security staff since it first opened at Interstate 19 and Pima Mine Road in 2001.

“We have two EMTS on duty for each of the casino’s three shifts,” he said. In addition, the casino can call upon paramedics from the Tohono O’odham Nation and Southwest Ambulance.

The Ryans said they were unaware the casino keeps EMTs on duty at all times, but Sirois explained that doing so “is a requirement for responsible management.”

“It’s typical for casinos across the country to offer this kind of service and there are a million reasons why,” he said.

Given the nature of the gaming and entertainment business, the casino’s environment and excitement it offers, the food and beverage service and the local population it serves, including many retirees, an incident like the Ryan emergency “is not a matter of if, but of when,” he said.

“After reviewing the video, I couldn’t be more proud of our security staff and the way they performed these life-saving procedures. The response of the blackjack staff was virtually immediate. Their combined efforts worked to create a happy ending,” Sirois said.

Trina Parvello, director of marketing, said the casino “feels strongly about safety and requires employees to be trained in CPR and first aid.”

Those who volunteer to gain state and national EMT certification are trained at an academy in Tucson, at the casino’s expense, she said.

Ryan and his wife have since returned to the casino and said they want area residents to know that the Desert Diamond provides medical emergency services.

This, the Ryans said, should allay any fears residents may have about going there.

After the June 16 incident, Ryan, who underwent quadruple bypass surgery in 2006, was taken by ambulance to St. Mary’s Hospital, and later transferred to Tucson Heart Hospital, where doctors implanted a pacemaker and internal defibrillator.

Joyce Ryan said the couple received a lengthy follow-up call from the casino to check on her husband’s condition.

She said the couple’s friend Pam Brown, assisted her tremendously following the incident, by gathering Joyce’s belongings, securing the couple’s car and notifying their family

Joyce also said she was glad that she had updated just the week before a list of her husband’s medications, allergies, medical procedures, insurance information and doctors and carried the list in her purse to provide information to the doctors at St. Mary’s. She advises everyone at risk for a heart attack or other serious conditions to carry such a list with them since it saves times and could also save lives.

“We seemed to have gone to the right place that night,” she said.

“We were told that if Bill had been at home, he would have died and the that the quick reaction from the casino employees was the reason he made it. My own brother died of a heart attack because he didn’t receive treatment soon enough,” she said.

The Ryans, who moved to Green Valley from Phoenix in 1999, owned their own fire protection equipment firm before retiring. Married for 30 years, they have two sons and three daughters.

“We can’t praise the casino enough for what they did for us,” she said.

“What I want to say to those casino people is thank you, thank you for the rest of my life,’ Bill Ryan said.

Kathy Engle is a freelance writer who lives in Amado. Contact her at kdengle@earthlink.net. Comment on this story online at www.gvnews.com.

Details

An Automated External Defibrillator, a portable device, is applied outside the body. An AED consists of a small computer (microprocessor) electrodes and electrical circuity. The electrodes collect information about the heart’s rhythm.

An AED automatically analyzes the heart rhythm and advises the rescuer whether of not a shock is needed to restore a normal heart beat. If the patient’s heart resumes beating normally, the heart has been defibrillated..

Heart attacks and other conditions can cause ventricular fibrillation. In ventricular fibrillation, the electrical signals in the lower part of the heart are uncoordinated and ineffective. Very little blood is pumped from the heart to the body or lungs. If ventricular fibrillation is not treated, it will result in cardiac arrest.

You can find AEDs in public places, such as airports and office buildings. Doctors sometimes recommend home defibrillators for patients with heart disease.

The AED delivers an electric shock that stuns the heart momentarily, stopping all activity and giving the hear a chance to restart normal electrical activity and resume beating effectively.

Source: Food and Drug Administration, Heart Health Online