A Reunion With a Patient - 27 Years Later

Every provider has pivotal moments in their career when they feel they made a difference, made a decision that saved a life or learned important lessons that they can pass on to others. I recently had the rare opportunity to be reunited with a 27-year-old that I, my partner and a police officer resuscitated in May 1990 when he was born prematurely at just 27-weeks of gestation. He was born on a stairway, weighed only 2 lbs., 13 oz., and wasn't breathing. I wrote about the survival of "Baby Rodney" in the July 2015 issue because I thought the story was over, but it wasn't.1 I now write the latest chapter in this incredible story, which was a pivotal point in my career that allowed me to see the fruits of my labor not only as a paramedic, but also as the regional EMS director in Eastern Pennsylvania who worked closely with hospitals, committees, physicians and providers to categorize hospitals according to their critical care capabilities. The Christmas card sent to paramedic A.J. Heightman in 1990, letting him know that Rodney Barron Jr. had "made it." Photo A.J. Heightman Part 1 of My Story It was 27 years ago, on May 24, 1990, at 01:44 am. A volunteer paramedic for Bethlehem Township (Pa.) Volunteer Fire Company (BTVFC), I was dispatched as a second ALS unit to assist at what started out as a call for a "woman with abdominal pain." I was updated en route that my unit was dispatched to assist a paramedic unit already on scene at a complicated b...
Source: JEMS Patient Care - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Cardiac & Resuscitation Columns Source Type: news