TheLounge
04-26-2007, 01:27 PM
Imagine you’re at a sporting event watching your child play. Suddenly, one of the officials collapses. What would you do? A group of parents experienced just sort an emergency Sunday at Paye’s Place, a basketball club in San Carlos.
During an eighth-grade basketball game, referee David Hill of Menlo Park collapsed. If not for the quick reaction of people in the stands, Hill may not be here any more.
His partner and friend, retired Belmont fire chief Rocky Pettit who lives in Mountain View, realizes that and he wanted to thank the annonymous people that saved his friend’s life with their quick reactions.
“I didn’t get names (of the people that helped).” Pettit said. “I wanted to thank the two gentlemen and a woman who were responsible for saving his life.”
Not only did Pettit want to thank those that saved his friend — including members of the Belmont-San Carlos Fire Department — but also to urge people to get CPR training. It quickly brought to the forefront how important such a simple procedure can be. When it comes to saving somebody from a heart attack — which is basically what happened to Hill —*seconds count.
“I want people to know that it could be very beneficial to have CPR part of their lives,” Pettit said.
Pettit said Hill had a blood clot that blocked a major artery to his heart and it finally got him Sunday.
“If it wasn’t immediate and long-lasting CPR, he wouldn’t be around to talk about it,” Pettit said. “He had died. When he went down, he stopped breathing and his heart stopped.
“I don’t know what made me look over. I still remember seeing him kind of turn around and fall backward. I could see his face and he looked like he was in agony.”
By the time Pettit got to his fallen comrade, the Good Samaritans in the stands had already started life-saving procedures. Pettit said his first reaction was to shoo the people away, but as soon as he realized they had CPR training, he stepped aside and let them work.
The two men and woman were soon joined by a doctor who was in the stands and all four went about saving Hill’s life. When the paramedics arrived, they took over and continued working on Hill.
“He was being worked on, before they took him away in the ambulance, for about 25 minutes of steady CPR,” Pettit said. “They must have zapped him five or six times (with defibrillators).”
Pettit read a statement to me Wednesday evening, a portion of which stated:
“if it were not for the two gentlemen and woman’s quick reaction and knowledge of CPR, my colleague would not have made it. I have just been to the hospital and all looks good. David Hill, his wife and family and all his many friends want to thank those folks who took part in the life-saving procedures.”
Pettit said Hill was taken to Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City and was rushed into surgery where surgeons removed the clot and inserted a stent. Already out of the Intensive Care Unit, Pettit said Hill is looking good.
I’ve had very rudimentary CPR training. I had to take a class before Toddler Lounge was born and it was just a very brief course on how to work on an infant. I don’t know how I would respond if an official suddenly collapsed. As a sports writer, I spend a tremendous amount of time at sporting events and have been trained to stay neutral, to not draw judgments or conclusions about an event, to not get involved and just report what I see.
I’m glad there are people out there that are keen enough observers to realize when there is a serious problem and have the guts to do something. It would have been very easy for Hill’s life savers to wait for someone else to handle the situation. But they didn’t and both Hill, his family and his friend thank them for it.
During an eighth-grade basketball game, referee David Hill of Menlo Park collapsed. If not for the quick reaction of people in the stands, Hill may not be here any more.
His partner and friend, retired Belmont fire chief Rocky Pettit who lives in Mountain View, realizes that and he wanted to thank the annonymous people that saved his friend’s life with their quick reactions.
“I didn’t get names (of the people that helped).” Pettit said. “I wanted to thank the two gentlemen and a woman who were responsible for saving his life.”
Not only did Pettit want to thank those that saved his friend — including members of the Belmont-San Carlos Fire Department — but also to urge people to get CPR training. It quickly brought to the forefront how important such a simple procedure can be. When it comes to saving somebody from a heart attack — which is basically what happened to Hill —*seconds count.
“I want people to know that it could be very beneficial to have CPR part of their lives,” Pettit said.
Pettit said Hill had a blood clot that blocked a major artery to his heart and it finally got him Sunday.
“If it wasn’t immediate and long-lasting CPR, he wouldn’t be around to talk about it,” Pettit said. “He had died. When he went down, he stopped breathing and his heart stopped.
“I don’t know what made me look over. I still remember seeing him kind of turn around and fall backward. I could see his face and he looked like he was in agony.”
By the time Pettit got to his fallen comrade, the Good Samaritans in the stands had already started life-saving procedures. Pettit said his first reaction was to shoo the people away, but as soon as he realized they had CPR training, he stepped aside and let them work.
The two men and woman were soon joined by a doctor who was in the stands and all four went about saving Hill’s life. When the paramedics arrived, they took over and continued working on Hill.
“He was being worked on, before they took him away in the ambulance, for about 25 minutes of steady CPR,” Pettit said. “They must have zapped him five or six times (with defibrillators).”
Pettit read a statement to me Wednesday evening, a portion of which stated:
“if it were not for the two gentlemen and woman’s quick reaction and knowledge of CPR, my colleague would not have made it. I have just been to the hospital and all looks good. David Hill, his wife and family and all his many friends want to thank those folks who took part in the life-saving procedures.”
Pettit said Hill was taken to Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City and was rushed into surgery where surgeons removed the clot and inserted a stent. Already out of the Intensive Care Unit, Pettit said Hill is looking good.
I’ve had very rudimentary CPR training. I had to take a class before Toddler Lounge was born and it was just a very brief course on how to work on an infant. I don’t know how I would respond if an official suddenly collapsed. As a sports writer, I spend a tremendous amount of time at sporting events and have been trained to stay neutral, to not draw judgments or conclusions about an event, to not get involved and just report what I see.
I’m glad there are people out there that are keen enough observers to realize when there is a serious problem and have the guts to do something. It would have been very easy for Hill’s life savers to wait for someone else to handle the situation. But they didn’t and both Hill, his family and his friend thank them for it.