Truly A Miracle - Emergency Medical Personnel Honored for Saving Man's Life
5/26/2021
This article originally appeared in Mohave Valley Daily News on May 20, 2021. It was written by Bill McMillen. The original article can be viewed here.
BULLHEAD CITY — Two months ago today, Michael Kuhnash's life was in danger and he didn't know it.
Fortunately, a lot of other people did.
More than a dozen emergency services and hospital personnel were honored Wednesday for their actions in saving Kuhnash's life after he suffered a massive heart attack at his Fort Mohave home.
They received praise from the victim and his wife and awards from a national company during an Emergency Medical Services Week luncheon conducted by Western Arizona Regional Medical Center and CareFlight at Anderson Auto Group Fieldhouse in Bullhead City.
“It's kind of overwhelming,” said Kuhnash after seeing most of the people whose efforts made it possible for him to be at Wednesday's event. “There were so many people involved. Seeing the people who saved your life is incredible. It really is.”
Kuhnash and his wife, Sue, shook hands and exchanged hugs with personnel from the Bullhead City Police Department's Emergency Dispatch Center, the Fort Mojave Mesa Fire Department, Classic Air and the heart catheterization lab at WARMC after those emergency care workers received a ZOLL Medical Clinical Save Award.
Ray Proa, emergency services director for the Fort Mojave Mesa Fire Department, compiled data on Kuhnash's case — from heart attack to discharge from the hospital two weeks later — and sent it to ZOLL Medical, a manufacturer of cardiac-related monitors used by emergency medical service agencies for consideration for its awards program.
ZOLL agreed with Sue Kuhnash's assessment: “Truly a miracle.”
Kuhnash survived complete blockage of the main artery leading to the heart and suffered a dreaded “Widowmaker” heart attack. The American Heart Association says that the survival rate for that kind of heart attack outside a medical setting is only 12%.
Kuhnash bucked those odds.
And he didn't even know it.
“I don't remember anything,” the 58-year-old Kuhnash said Wednesday. “I woke up in the hospital. I didn't know what happened. I had it easy: All I had to do was lay there.”
While Kuhnash doesn't remember the events of March 20, Sue Kuhnash does.
“My husband and I were having a normal conversation when he suddenly started gurgling and went unconscious,” she said. “I immediately called 911 and yelled for help. Friends Rosa and Marie came and started CPR until Fort Mojave Mesa Station 92 arrived. He was not breathing and unresponsive with no pulse. I was told it did not look good; however, the paramedics worked tirelessly, shocking him twice and I heard Kevin say ‘We got a pulse; let's go!’”
Rosa and Marie are neighbors of the Kuhnashes in the Riverside Adventure Trails RV Resort in Fort Mohave. Kevin is Capt. Kevin Smith of the FMMFD.
And Lauren Jackson, a dispatcher at the emergency center in Bullhead City, was on the phone with both, providing critical instruction to Rosa and Marie for the performance of CPR and giving information to the Station 92 crew.
Proa said the neighbors worked for four to five minutes before the arrival of the fire department crew; FMMFD personnel spent 31 minutes getting Kuhnash stabilized so he could be rushed by ambulance to Valley View Medical Center in Fort Mohave. There, a Classic Air helicopter took Kuhnash to Western Arizona Regional Medical Center, where he underwent emergency surgery in the heart cath lab. He had stents inserted into the main artery and two others that were 80% blocked.
Two weeks later, he was home from the hospital. And two weeks after that, he was at the fieldhouse, thanking the many men and women who made it possible for him to be there.
“So many things had to fall into place,” Kuhnash said.
While it was an emotional moment for Michael and Sue, it also was emotional for some of the first responders.
“We (911 dispatchers) usually don't get to see or even know the outcome,” Jackson told the couple. “This was a pretty amazing outcome.”
“It sure is,” Kuhnash said.
According to Proa, crews involved in the incident:
- Lauren Jackson, dispatcher, Bullhead City Police/Fire Department Emergency Dispatch Center.
- Capt. Keith Smith, paramedic; Capt. Kevin Thompson, paramedic; Matt Branson, engineer/paramedic; Matt Reyes, firefighter/paramedic; and Kyle Bakken, firefighter/emergency medical technician; Fort Mojave Mesa Fire Department.
- Tanya Lane, registered nurse; and Mark Luce, emergency room physician; Valley View Medical Center.
- Adam Parra, pilot; Aaron Friel, flight RN; Alyssa Edwards, flight RN; and Ray Hall, flight paramedic; Classic Air Medical.
- Mohamed Ahmed, M.D.; Robert Whitworth, registered respiratory therapist; Kim Guess, registered nurse; and Rusty Bennet, registered nurse; Western Arizona Regional Medical Center Heart Catheterization Lab team.
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