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INTEGRIS Grove General Hospital Foundation’s Defibrillator Saves Speaker’s Life
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| Donated in 2002 by Beverly Jones of Grand River Abstract and her late husband Stan, this small portable defibrillator was instrumental in saving a life at the Jay Chamber of Commerce Banquet in April 2009. | |
By Jeanene Moore
In 30 minutes, Respiratory Therapist Lisa Earp was to attend a Chamber of Commerce Banquet in the Jay High School’s Bull Dog Arena in Jay, Oklahoma, just after returning from a three-day trip to Oklahoma City. She almost didn’t go…but did. Dr. Darrell Mease was scheduled to be at the same event, but was busy at INTEGRIS Grove General Hospital instead.
As the key-note speaker prepared to take the podium, he collapsed. Lisa, along with Michael Van Lear, were the professionals on hand who knew what to do. Lisa provided compressions to the patient and facilitated his breathing with some assistance. One person knew that there was a portable defibrillator in the gym and exactly where it was located. Donated by the INTEGRIS Grove General Hospital Foundation in 2002, its on-the-spot use is credited with saving the speaker’s life.
“I feel like this was a calling from the Lord, and that I was meant to be there,” explains Lisa. “And Dr. Mease was where he needed to be to assist with the care of this patient at the hospital.”
Since only 7% of people who suffer sudden cardiac arrest outside of a hospital survive, and after 3 separate near-death episodes in Grove alone between 2001 and 2002, the Foundation set a goal to place portable defibrillators in school gyms and community buildings in INTEGRIS Grove's service area. In one year, that goal was met and, today, some 32 defibrillators have been placed and more than 350 people have been trained in CPR. In 2003, Governor Brad Henry presented the Foundation and INTEGRIS Grove with the Community Involvement Award for fostering this program.
Funds for the particular portable defibrillator on hand at Jay’s Bulldog Arena that April, 2009 day had been donated by Beverly Jones and her late husband Stan—strong supporters of INTEGRIS Grove and the Foundation where Beverly serves as a trustee.
"I'm a firm believer that things happen for a reason,” expresses Foundation Director Debbie Totty. "When I heard about the incident in Jay, it gave me chills to think that a Foundation defibrillator, donated seven years earlier by one of the most honorable couples I know, had saved a life. Perhaps it is time to revitalize our defibrillator campaign! I’ve been told that several businesses and municipalities have either ordered or are in the process of ordering an AED since this incident."
For information on how to donate to this fund, please contact Debbie Totty at 918-787-3464.
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INTEGRIS Grove General Hospital
1310 S. Main
Grove, OK 74344
(918) 786-2243INTEGRIS HealthLine
(888) 951-2277 |
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