Reprinted from: Richmond Times Dispatch, 11-8-1990

By Brian Kelley

For Richmond officials and doctors, the chain of events that started in a parking log across from City Hall yesterday was a textbook case of how the city's improved Emergency Medical Services system can work.

For Phyllis Maslen, the combined efforts of Fire Bureau Capt. James S. Leahey, firefighters from Engine Company 33, a Richmond Ambulance Service Inc. Crew and Medical College of Virginia doctors means one simple thing: her mother, Florence Maslen, survived what would otherwise have been a fatal heart attack.

"I would like to thank them," the younger Mrs. Maslen said at MCV last night. "I can't tank them enough, I really can't." Last night Florence Maslen, 64, was unconscious and in critical but stable condition in the MCV intensive care unit. Doctors said that the next 48 hours will be crucial.

Dr. Joseph P. Ornato, the medical co-director of Richmond EMS system, said he was cautiously optimistic for her recovery.

"In this case everything worked almost in a textbook fashion," said Dr. Ornato, a cardiologist who worked on Mrs. Maslen in the emergency room. "There's no doubt in my mind that the entire team together participated in saving her life."

Mrs. Maslen has a history of heart problems, and has undergone two prior open-heart surgeries, the most recent a double-bypass last December.

The Maslens came to Richmond for their homes in Lawrenceville yesterday so Florence Maslen could go to a cholesterol screening held in the Old City Hall on East Broad Street. The screening would determine whether she would qualify to serve as a volunteer in a study of heard disease.

But the test was delayed and the Maslens walked across to the parking log at 10th and Broad streets and started to get in their care to go to lunch around 1 p.m.

Mrs. Maslen noticed her mother was unconscious, with one foot outside the open passenger's door.

She called for help. A parking lot attendant ran over. After seeing the problem, he ran back to his booth, called 911 and also flagged down a passing red Fire Bureau truck.

Leahey, a fire captain and paramedic who is in charge of the First Responder program, was on his way to lunch and just happened to have with him a new, portable defibrillator.

The First Responder program started a week ago. Firefighters now respond to emergency medical calls to assist rescue squad's Because there are more firefighters and stations spread across the city, they can often reach an emergency more quickly than the city or volunteer rescue squads.

Richmond's 500 firefighters have been trained to stabilize patients until a rescue crew arrives. Leahey has 20 years of emergency medical experience and has been a paramedic – the highest training level for non-physicians – for six months.

Finding no pulse, Leahey started cardiopulmonary resuscitation while direction bystanders to get the defibrillator from this truck. He attached the device to her chest and administered a shot that restored a pulse. Seconds later he administered a second shock.

Within three minutes a fire truck from Company 33, located at Jefferson and Canal streets, arrived and the firefighters assisted in the treatment. Then cardiac technician Thom Ward and emergency medical technician Mary Neagle pulled up inside the city ambulance.

Ward and Ms. Neagle administered an additional six shocks with another defibrillator. They also gave her lidocaine, an anti-arrhythmic drug, in the ambulance on the way to MCV. By late afternoon, the MCV cardiac team has stabilized her.

The younger Mrs. Maslen's husband, Bob, is a medical transport professional and works with a volunteer squad as well. The couple was impressed by Richmond's emergency medical system.

Leahey "was right ere. He was so quick it was unbelievable," Mrs. Maslen said. "Within seconds the fire engine was there then the ambulance . . . it was fantastic."