Survivors
Tom Dallas
On June 22, 2002 Tom Dallas was revived by an AED within three minutes after collapsing in the locker room of his local health club. Prior to this dramatic event, there were no warning signs in Tom's lifestyle or medical history which could have predicted a sudden cardiac arrest. Tom lacked symptoms normally associated with heart disease, had no history of heart problems, never suffered chest pain or high blood pressure. During his workout, he hadn't experienced pain or discomfort. A non-smoker, he had always considered himself a healthy, athletic person who exercised regularly and maintained a sensible diet. His physician confirmed these facts a month earlier when Tom underwent a complete physical prior to renewing his pilot's license. "In retrospect," Tom says, "the only significant risk factor I had was a stressful work life, like many people these days."
The circumstances under which Tom was successfully resuscitated were quite remarkable. "I am very thankful for my good fortune. When I returned to the locker room, I began feeling dizzy. Someone saw me collapse and notified the staff of the club, who promptly went into action after finding no vital signs. Life guards and PAD targeted responders started CPR, contacted 911 to request advanced life support, retrieved the AED, and administered one shock. Advanced Care Paramedics arrived on scene 4 minutes later, administered advanced life support and transported me to the hospital."
It's true that luck was on Tom's side, but so were well-trained responders, swift action, and an on-site AED. In the emergency room, a physician told Tom his heart was undamaged, and more remarkably, that Tom could now count himself among the approximately 1-3% people who survive cardiac arrest in communities without a PAD program.
"Needless to say, I will always be thankful to those who came to my aid. I am also grateful that I live in a community where medical staff like Keith Kirkpatrick and Dr. Rudy Vandersluis, and public officials in Town Council support the PAD program that saved my life."
Audrey Dallas, Tom's wife, echoes his sentiments. "I will be eternally grateful not only to the staff who were there to save Tom but also to all those who made it possible for the AED equipment to be in place to do the job. We feel truly blessed that this potentially fatal incident occurred where there was access to a defibrillator, that alert well-trained staff were nearby to put it to use, and that we live in a community that recognizes the need for public access to this life saving equipment."
Today Tom views life with renewed excitement. "I plan to spend more time enjoying life with family and friends," he vows, "and to become an advocate for PAD programs and other community initiatives."
Tom Dallas was the first "save" under the community PAD Program in Durham Region of southern Ontario, Canada. His sudden cardiac arrest occurred two and a half weeks after the AED was put into place at the Whitby Recreation Centre. With genuine enthusiasm, Tom speaks at PAD launches in the Durham Region. He has a heart for the program, a heart for the community.
Tom Griffin
"You could call my story The Light Switch," laughs Tom Griffin. In February 2001, the dynamic Oil Sands employee was returning to Ft. McMurray from meetings in Houston. The flight had a hour or so layover in Calgary, Alberta, just time enough for a light lunch in the terminal. Sitting down to soup was the last thing Tom remembers. Without warning, without any sensation of pain, Tom fell unconscious to the floor. "It was just like a light switch. One minute I was getting ready to eat; the next, the lights went out."
The rest of Tom's story has been reconstructed from eyewitness reports. A doctor and nurse who were sitting at the table behind Tom, sprang into action, determining that he had suffered sudden cardiac arrest. As one removed Tom's shirt, the other called 911. Emergency Medical Services at the airport responded in less than two minutes, bringing with them an automated external defibrillator.
The Calgary Municipal Airport Authority, as part of a North American public access defibrillation program trial, had purchased AEDs and incorporated them into their emergency response plan. Well-equipped, well-trained and well-prepared, first responders were able to save Tom's life. He was stabilized, suffered no brain damage, and was transferred to hospital for further care.
After a week's stay in hospital, Tom was told there was nothing wrong with his heart. Unwilling to accept that his SCA was a random event, Tom rejected that analysis and was sent to Foothills Hospital in Calgary where he came under the care of two specialists in arrhythmias. After multiple tests, they determined that Tom suffered from Brugada Syndrome, a genetic defect which had only been uncovered by researchers in 1995. The syndrome originally came to light when it presented in some high-active elite athletes.
Still hospitalized, Tom avidly began researching the syndrome, connecting with the eight specialists in Canada who had done work in the area. Eventually, Tom was selected for a case study in the Mayo Clinic's Brugada Syndrome research project, contributing valuable data and DNA samples which may someday lead to a cure.
With a diagnosis in hand, Tom's cardiologist elected to place a small implantable cardioverter defibrillator or ICD above his heart. Placed just below Tom's shoulder, the device automatically detects the onset of abnormal heart rhythms, and within seconds of detecting fibrillation, the ICD delivers a biphasic shock to the heart to restore its normal rhythm.
Tom Griffin has returned to his job and, when he's not travelling around North America, finds time to be an active community volunteer on various boards and committees. He's an avid golfer, a promoter of community PAD programs, and in his free time, a budding author writing historic fiction based in his beloved Scotland.
Philip Shilton
Accustomed to the high-intensity pressures of designing and producing books, forty-six-year-old printing executive Philip Shilton planned to relieve stress by taking his family for a March ski holiday in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Ski conditions were optimum, and, recalls Philip, "it was a good day for angels."
After skiing all morning on Goat's Eye Mountain in the Sunshine Ski Resort, the Shiltons—Philip, his wife Ellen, one of his sons, Christopher, along with Philip's brother's family—decided to pay attention to their sore legs and take the Angel Run to the main lodge. Philip headed down the run first; he would never see the lodge. Half-way down, he describes "crashing." Later he would learn that his heart went into ventricular fibrillation and that he had suffered a sudden cardiac arrest. He has no memory of the rest of that day, but, he assures, angels were watching over him.
Ellen was the first to reach Philip's prone body. Initially, she thought he was just kidding, but then began shouting for help. She had no idea how long he had been unconscious. The first person to respond was, remarkably, a nurse who determined that Philip had no vital signs; quick on her heels, the second responder, a British Army paramedic, began CPR. Almost immediately the Ski Patrol, returning from another accident, arrived. They carried an AED. Under the Angel Lift, the Ski Patrollers sliced off Philip's jacket and successfully restarted his heart with the AED.
The weather co-operated. Within minutes, Philip was heli-lifted off the slope and flown to the nearest hospital in Banff, Alberta. The attending physician estimated that Philip had been in SCA for approximately seven minutes, perhaps longer; it was, he said, only a guess. Philip had suffered a seizure and efforts to stabilize him weren't working. Though he was placed on machines to help him breathe, the prognosis was poor. Time for more help, Ellen decided. Within minutes, through her church, she had activated a "prayer chain" that spread across Canada. The angels were being summoned.
Stabilized, Philip was again airlifted, this time to nearby Calgary where emergency care workers told Ellen to prepare herself and her family for the worst. The outcome, they gently warned, did not look positive. Five minutes later Ellen's prayers were answered. A blockage in Philip's heart had been discovered, an angioplasty performed, and a shunt placed in his heart to correct the blockage. During surgery, the cardiologist implanted a small cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) above Philip's heart.
Circulatory blockages had probably plagued him for some time. Two years earlier, Philip narrowly escaped death when his bike was struck by a car, tossing him 20 feet into traffic. Up until the accident he'd comfortably cycled 30 kilometers a day; after the accident he could barely do 100 yards without a break. Curiously, three times over the next months he'd experienced a numb arm along with general fatigue. He had asked his doctor about blockages, but no testing had been ordered.
Fortunately, when the next blockage occurred on the ski slope, stopping Philip's heart, the angels were on his side. Quick-thinking, highly-trained responders and a readily available AED saved Philip's life and left him without damage to his heart or brain. Recovery was rapid; he was back to work after three weeks, eventually working full days by autumn. It was not all a piece of cake: the inevitable depression and feelings of vulnerability took time to overcome.
Today, Philip feels he's in better shape than ever. He hasn't returned to cycling, but he works out daily on an elliptical trainer, without fear or uncertainty, knowing the ICD will do the job in the unlikely event of another cardiac arrest. The very next season after his rescue on the mountain Philip and Ellen were back skiing at Sunshine.
Philip Shilton has expressed his gratitude to all the angels who gathered to rescue him, is happy to share the miracle of his rescue, resuscitation and recovery, and pleased to relate his story to others, especially to those involved in initiating a PAD program in their community. He is especially grateful that Sunshine Mountain and Ski Resort was one of the first winter recreation areas in the Canadian Rockies to obtain AEDs and train responders to use them. Sunshine implemented their AED program just two months prior to Philip's near-fatal run on Angel Mountain.