Investigation: Rescue Response
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rescue response
rescue responseWhen your heart stops pumping, CPR may help buy you time, but it takes a shock of electricity to bring you back to life.
“As soon as I sat down, it hit me,” said John Caldwell hitting his chest. A heart attack hit him last year near Duncan. He and his family waited more than 30 minutes for an ambulance to arrive.
911 call: "It has been 30 minutes and he is getting worse, and no one is here," said a family member with Caldwell to the 911 operator.
His heart didn't stop beating, but he says it came close. EMS and a fire department were in route, but neither got there fast enough. Caldwell's family eventually drove him to the hospital. Days later, the county told us its crews were stretched thin that day. “And in all likelihood, it could possibly occur again,” said Spartanburg County Communications Director Jimmy Green.
The American Heart Association says you have six minutes or less to survive a cardiac arrest before you die or suffer severe brain damage. For every minute blood stops flowing to the brain, chances of surviving drops 10 percent.
When EMS is not available, fire departments respond to cardiac arrests, but a 7 on your side investigation found not all fire departments have the same success at re-starting your heart, and depending where you live, could mean life or death.
Check out our interactive map of resuscitation in Spartanburg County.
We looked at three years worth of cardiac arrest response data from 25 fire departments in Spartanburg County who use AED’s, otherwise known as automatic external defibrillators, to restart your heart.
Of the 261 cardiac arrest calls crews responded to and CPR performed, crews resuscitated patients only 21 percent of the time. Six fire districts have not been able to resuscitate anyone's heart in the past three years.
The Hilltop Fire Department is one of them. Of the 13 cardiac arrest calls it responded to and CPR, it did not successfully resuscitate anyone.
We asked the fire chief if he thought residents should be concerned. Chief John Hall said, “I would hope that they wouldn't be...that they would know we're coming, and we're going to be there in the event is delayed or responding for a location that is further away from our station here.”
Hall says EMS typically gets to the scene before his crew's do, which could explain his department's low resuscitation rate.
North Spartanburg fire department's resuscitation rate is higher. Nearly 30 percent. While that sounds low, it’s better than the six percent national average.
Cardiologist Greg San at Saint Francis Hospital says the fire departments that can get an AED to patients the quickest, will have the most successful resuscitation rates. “The CPR gets the blood flow going in a rhythmic fashion. You bring in the AED, and restore a normal pulse, a normal circulation, normal blood flow to the brain, and you'll have a survivor on your hands.”
A fire department's success also comes down to economics. State certified fire departments by the Department of Health and Environmental Control have crews able to administer medication while EMS is route. The certification requires more staff, and it cost extra money and tax dollars. Hilltop is not certified, while North Spartanburg is.
Some fire districts didn't respond to our requests, or told us they're not required to track its cardiac arrest responses.
CPR Training Information:
Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System: CPR American Heart Assoc TrainingSpartanburg Regional Healthcare System: CPR American Heart Assoc Training
(864) 560-6282
Find out everything you need to be heart healthy
Buy an AED for your home or business.
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Reader Reactions
I would like to comment about this report. It is unfair for WSPA to portray the local fire departments and EMS as inadequate in this report. Most of the fire departments listed had a very small call sample to calculate a “percent” of cardiac arrest saves. As listed by WSPA, this information is statistically inaccurate. Also, in cardiac arrest, there are many factors involved such as previous medical conditions, age, etc. Instead of making this a “shock” story, it would have more responsible of WSPA to stress Spartanburg County’s outstanding percent above the national average due to the collaberation between the local hospitals, EMS and fire departments. I personally volunteer for a local fire department and have a full time job as a nurse. For the record, my opinion is not because of my fire department’s score. We had an excellent score and have an excellent department.
I would like to end with two important points. First, if you are dissatisfied in any way with your local fire departments response, volunteer for them. Volunteer firefighters are dwindling in numbers. Help in your community! If you are unwilling to do so, at least learn CPR. CPR saves lives! There are classes available regularly. Contact your local Red Cross or hospital to learn more. Secondly, the way that the story ended was very disturbing. The gentleman stated that he would drive himself to the hospital next time. This is very dangerous statement and unfortunately has already been dispersed to the public. The best survival rates if you are having a heart attack are by calling 911. Driving yourself to the hospital risks not only your own life, but also the lives of others on the roads. Thank you for your time.
I have to post my opinion on this topic. I am a volenteer firefighter and emt at a small fire department. We usually beat EMS to the scene of a call and we do all that we can do. Most of us drive our personal vehicles to calls because we are volenteer fire department at nights and on the weekends. We take time away from our families to train as well as to protect the community. We only have the AED’s at the station on the trucks. Personally, I am usually the first on scene and if they are in cardiac arrest, the only thing I can do is start CPR until my truck gets there. I just want people to understand that no all fire departments have someone at the station ready to take the calls.
The media’s penchant for sensationalism has cast a pall on a vital and often under-recognized group of professionals. I am referring to all of the trained, certified, and dedicated EMTs and First Responders that service the people of this area. Your segment on cardiac resuscitation success rates was factual but presented in such a way, I believe, to imply that these professionals are not performing their jobs or somehow inadequate in their application.
Location was mentioned as factor and this is true. The farther away you live from essential services and how those services are funded is a big factor. Both of these are individual choices, things that should influence decisions on where to live and how your local monies should be spent.
But one thing that the report failed to mention is whether or not these cardiac patients had any other ailments or conditions that would make resuscitation by any means challenging. Respiratory distress, pneumonia, diabetes…all aspects of a patient’s medical history factor into life-and-death medical outcomes. I think that ignoring those factors sheds a false light on the percentages reported.
Someone trained in CPR, and with access to an AED, is still first link in the chain of surviving a cardiac event. The vast majority of the public is not trained in the former or possess of the latter. The public needs to have confidence in the trained men and women at the other end of the 911 call. They do not need sensationalism to attract viewership.
Hello,
Thank you for the report on Response time. I can’t tell you how important learning CPR is to help sustain a life until advanced medical personnel arrive. However, when I checked the link for American Red Cross CPR classes, I only saw the Upstate Chapter in Greenville listed. Please don’t forget that Spartanburg also has a chapter that teaches CPR. Thanks Kate
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