Valley City trainer, Jamestown EMS cooperate to save man's life

Aug. 5—JAMESTOWN — Tabitha Muncy has gotten used to making a difference as the head athletic trainer at Valley City High School.

But on June 12, in Jamestown, she was quite possibly the difference between life and death.

"Technically there should be an athletic trainer at any athletic event whether that be a practice, game, or camp," Muncy said. "I was asked by the UJ men's basketball coach to work this high school boys' basketball camp. I was a little hesitant as this was my first time working at a camp, but I thought why not, I've heard nothing usually ever happens at camps anyways."

The operative word being "usually"

"I happened to be walking into the gym when I noticed a group of people surrounding someone lying on the ground," Muncy said in reflection. "I ran over and was told this coach immediately collapsed and hit his head. After finding he had no pulse I made the call to begin CPR.

"911 had already been called and I instructed another coach to grab the AED (Automated External Defibrillator)," she said.

According to the Red Cross website:

"An AED, or automated external defibrillator, is used to help those experiencing sudden cardiac arrest. It's a ... medical device that can analyze the heart's rhythm and, if necessary, deliver an electrical shock, or defibrillation, to help the heart re-establish an effective rhythm."

Muncy said after putting on the AED, the device advised for a shock, and a shock was given. Muncy then continued chest compressions until she was relieved by the Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs).

"Thinking back to this day seems like a blur," Muncy said. "I have been CPR certified for seven years, so once I began my actions were pure instinct. I didn't realize the adrenaline rush I had until after he was transferred to the ambulance and I was completely physically and mentally exhausted."

Muncy became a certified EMR (Emergency Medical Responder) for the Dazey Fire Department when she was 16 years old.

"I realized I loved the thrill of assisting with medical emergencies," Muncy said. "I combined this love with my passion for sports and decided to go into athletic training (in college)."

Muncy has been a certified athletic trainer for one year. In her position at Valley, she provides care at practices and games for athletes in all sports. At camps, she is primarily there if emergency care is needed.

"Athletic trainers specialize in injury prevention, emergency care, and evaluating and diagnosing sports-related injuries — we do a lot more than tape ankles and hand out ice bags," Muncy said. "We are health care professionals."

After about five to 10 minutes of performing CPR, the EMS crews arrived and Muncy articulated what had happened to paramedic, Kevin Bousquet, and EMT Maven Moore.

"EMS crews put the patient on our cardiac monitor where the paramedic could interpret the rhythm himself and he determined that the patient was still in Cardiac Arrest and defibrillated him again," Jamestown Area Ambulance Operations Manager Andrew Berkey said. "Shortly after that he regained pulses but was still in a very unstable rhythm."

Berkey said, due to the irregular rhythm, the paramedic performed a cardioversion which is a procedure that uses quick, low-energy shocks to restore a regular heart rhythm.

"(The cardioversion) did convert this person into a stable rhythm," Berkey said. "From that point, we started to administer 'return of spontaneous circulation' — that is basically making sure those vitals remain stable."

Return of spontaneous circulation involves starting IVs, starting fluids and getting any supportive medications that might be needed by the patient. After vitals were stable, EMS crews secured the patient onto a cot, loaded him into the ambulance and transported him to Jamestown Regional Medical Center. The patient's name was not disclosed.

"We do quite a few cardiac arrest calls per year but that is a bit of an unusual setting," Berkey said. "I am proud of our teams. These guys work very, very hard at what they do. It's a long battle in EMS and you don't always get the wins but when you do, you need to recognize them and appreciate them."

While it was the EMS crews who got the pulses back, Berkey stressed that saving the coach's life was a collaborative effort between his team and Muncy.

"If (Muncy) didn't start what she did, it would be incredibly unlikely that this guy would be alive," Berkey said. "In rural areas, we need bystanders to start CPR. We're not in urban areas where there is an ambulance waiting around every corner so we need people to take immediate action.

"I got in contact with Tabitha right away and thanked her for what she did because it's that important," he said. "That outcome was way less likely if she didn't step in."

Berkey said the national survival rate of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests is 10%.

"If we want to raise that number we have to train more people," Berkey said.

Berkey spent most of Tuesday, Aug. 1, teaching the entire University of Jamestown Athletics Department CPR. Berkey said the athletics department is now CPR certified.

"I think the universe has given us plenty of examples in the last year of why this matters," Berkey said of training individuals. "You look at Damar Hamlin, you see Lebron James' son in the news the other day — the big thing people have to understand is that no one is off limits to this. There are 100 different things that could cause someone to go into cardiac arrest.

"What Tabitha did was start the process of getting pulses back," he said. "That's huge. The more people that are trained, the sooner we can provide the right care and ultimately the more people we are going to save. We need more people like Tabitha who are willing to step up and do the right thing."