Megan Navarro
DRIFTWOOD — Keri Barfield treats every day as a gift after recovering from cardiac arrest more than a month ago.
At 7:12 a.m. May 7, North Hays County EMS received a call that a woman — Barfield, who was walking her dogs like she does every morning — was not conscious, but breathing at the time that she was found passed out in the street. Once the medics were enroute, battalion chief Scott Robinson said they received updated information that a passerby, who was out there with her, had found her lying near the edge of the street and she was having difficulty breathing.
Approximately four minutes later, Barfield had stopped breathing and Hays County Sheriff’s Office dispatchers were providing CPR instructions over the phone, Robinson continued. A nurse practitioner was driving by, saw what was going on and stopped to initiate bystander CPR at 7:18 a.m. The ambulance and North Hays County Fire Engine 62 arrived at 7:20 a.m., the medic crew advised at 7:22 a.m. that CPR was in progress and then, six minutes later, they had gotten a pulse back.
“When we arrived, we found the bystander nurse that was doing bystander CPR in place. We took over CPR and all the interventions that we would do. She was defibrillated one time and after that one defibrillation, we got a pulse back and then, we moved her to the ambulance, secured an airway, so that we could more effectively breathe for her and then, gave her some cardiac medications to help stabilize her heart rhythm,” Robinson recalled. “Then, we grabbed a firefighter off of Engine 62, put him in the back of the truck with the paramedic and they scooted to [Ascension] Seton Hays with a quickness.”
Robinson shared that the quick response time to this call aligns with Hays County Emergency Services District No. 1’s — now operating as North Hays County EMS — commitment to its citizens in expanding its coverage in the area.
“The previous provider operated four ambulances in this district, two of those were 24-hour trucks and two of those were 12-hour trucks. That particular ambulance would not have come on duty until 11 a.m., which means that one of the 24-hour trucks, both of which are stationed off of Highway 290, would have responded and that would have definitely extended the response time by anywhere from probably 10 to 12, maybe 14 minutes,” Robinson said. “When we started operations on April 7, we began with four 24-hour ambulances and it's been that way since then. So, that particular ambulance was crewed, staffed and response ready when that call came out and their ability to reduce that response time drastically, in my opinion, is absolutely what made all the difference in the outcome that we've got.”
During the transport to Ascension Seton Hays Hospital in Kyle, all of Barfield’s vital signs were trending in a positive direction, with her pulse rate staying stable and her blood pressure going up, the battalion chief said. Upon arrival, the emergency and cardiology departments’ staff jumped in on the case and she was able to make a full recovery.
“They had me intubated for several days and then, once they took the tube — the breathing tube — out, I still had to stay there until they could see how well I was going to do. So, it took a few days for me to kind of come back to my full self,” Barfield shared at a June 20 meet-and-greet with the crews that responded to the scene and helped on her case. She received care at both Ascension Seton Hays and Ascension Seton Medical Center in Austin.
Looking back at the events that occurred May 7 to today, Barfield is nothing but appreciative: “It was just such something so totally unexpected and it could happen to anybody. You just have to really appreciate every day that you are given. It’s a gift.”
