My brother-in-law, his wife and their family live in Bismarck, ND. This article was in the Bismarck Tribune regarding their son (my nephew) Brian's recent experience.
"The fact that Brian Carlson is alive defies the odds.
Last month, the 36-year-old Carlson suffered one of the most deadly kinds of heart attacks. During a blizzard.
In the next several hours, he was administered CPR, given at least six shocks from a defibrillator and put into a medically-induced coma so the doctors could cool his body down to prevent brain damage — a process known as therapeutic hypothermia.
On the afternoon of Sunday, April 14, Carlson was, like most of Bismarck on that blizzardy day, shoveling his driveway.
When he went inside, he felt pain in his chest and arm. He thought he might have over-exerted himself.
His girlfriend of about 18 months, Ryan Leary, had him take one of his nitrate pills while he lay down on the couch.
He thought he was going to be sick and so she went to get towels. When she turned back to him, he was stiff and not responding.
Leary immediately called 911 and started CPR, keeping Carlson’s blood pumping to vital organs.
"All I could think about was, ‘I don’t want him to die. I don’t want him to die,’" Leary said.
The emergency medical services arrived within five minutes, despite the major storm. But for Leary, it seemed like an eternity.
To get Carlson out of the house, the responders had to shovel out a path to the ambulance. Even with the weather-related obstacles, Carlson arrived at Sanford Health in under 20 minutes from when the 911 call had been placed.
When Carlson arrived at the Sanford emergency department, his heart was standing still and his blood pressure was extremely low.
Dr. Bhaja Shrestha, the pulmonologist who treated Carlson, said the health care workers had to react very fast, so they began to cool him down in the therapeutic hypothermia process. This would relax and oxygenate the body, as well as help prevent brain damage, Shrestha said. Carlson remained in this state for 24 hours.
Once doctors had bypassed the fully blocked artery and placed in a tube to allow blood to flow again, Carlson was moved to the intensive care unit. He remained at the hospital a total of five days.
This isn’t the first heart attack for Carlson, who has a history of them in his family. His first happened five years ago while he was driving to work at the Knife River Corp. in Mandan.
Despite feeling discomfort in his chest, Carlson sat in his car in Mandan for 15 minutes before deciding to drive back to Bismarck and go to the hospital.
That time, though, the arteries only had been partially blocked, which meant the heart attack was less severe.
This time, his artery was fully blocked (called a STEMI heart attack) and Carlson was given a 10 percent chance of surviving. Shrestha said it is amazing he survived, especially without any brain damage.
"I was very surprised and very happy to see him opening his eyes and interacting with us," he said.
Sanford’s STEMI coordinator Noelle Riehl credited Leary’s quick-thinking to start CPR as what saved Carlson’s life. Without that, she said, Carlson may not have survived until the ambulance arrived.
Leary, who knows CPR, but hasn’t been certified in several years, said it’s something she thinks anyone would do.
"Did I feel like I was keeping my cool (at the time)?" she said. "No."
Carlson said Leary doesn’t want to be called a hero and told him, "You can say it to me once."
Carlson has no recollection of any of the events until Wednesday afternoon. He was filled in mostly by Leary, who spent most of her time at the ICU while he was there, hoping he would be OK.
"You just think, ‘Is this going to change our lives forever?’" she said.
Now, Carlson said he feels fine. He’s in cardiac rehab and slowly regaining his strength. He’ll have to be careful not to over stress, and he said he’ll probably sell his snowmobiles.
Shrestha said he hopes this event inspires people to learn CPR"
BRIAN, this card is for you.
This is the card I made for my granddaughter when she had an accident on her bike and broke both arms!
Greeting Cards from SendOutCards are for almost every reason you can think of. In fact, when you choose the Category, EXPRESSIONS you will find these sub-catetories.
- Apologies
- Congratulations
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If, today, May 6th is your birthday, then this card is for you.
Some famous people who were born on May 6th are:
- George Clooney turns 52
- Chris Paul turns 28
- Meek Mill turns 26
- Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
- Tom Bergeron turns 58
- Bob Seger turns 68
- Willie Mays turns 82
- Tony Blair turns 60
- Orson Welles (1915-1985)
- Roma Downey turns 53
- Stewart Granger (1913-1993)
- Rudolph Valentino (1895-1926)
- Adrianne Palicki turns 30
On May 6, 1957 - The beloved American television show, "I Love Lucy" has its last show on CBS after running for 6 years.
SOMETHING TO SMILE ABOUT
Thanks for stopping by today. Hope to see you again tomorrow.
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