HOUSTON CHRONICLE ARCHIVES 

Paper: Houston Chronicle
Date: FRI 11/21/03
Section: A
Page: 40
Edition: 3 STAR

`They brought me back' /
Heart attack victims meet the EMTs who saved them

By ROBERT CROWE
Staff

Rudolph Rasmus ' doctors say it was a miracle he survived a major heart attack in March and could carry on a normal life.

Rasmus , 76, credits his survival to a higher power, which he believes spared his life when Houston Fire Department emergency medical technicians and paramedics stabilized his heart rate after shocking him 14 times with a defibrillator.

"They brought me back," he said. "They did it through the Lord."

Rasmus had not met the EMTs and paramedics who helped save his life before Thursday, when he and other Houstonians saved by the fire department's Emergency Medical Services workers gathered for a ceremony.

The event, at the John P. McGovern Museum of Health and Medical Science in the Museum District, brought paramedics and EMTs together with some of the people they helped save.

Capt. Anthony Gilchrist, an EMT supervisor, said statistics show Houston's EMS system is one of the best, but seeing actual people whose lives were saved puts it all into perspective.

"What I see here tonight, it's not just statistics. I see dreams that can still be fulfilled . . . I see dads that can still walk their daughters down the aisle," he said.

Danny Berryhill was one of the first EMTs at the scene of Rasmus ' heart attack. He said he does not remember if Rasmus ' heartbeat had stopped or if it was just weak; he just remembers doing his job.

"It's great to actually meet the people you saved," he said. "To actually get recognition for just doing your job is a great thing."

Dr. Kenneth Mattox, president of the Harris County Medical Society, said the good work by paramedics and firefighters in the Houston Fire Department makes it possible for doctors to save more lives.

"It's a unified, orchestrated effort, that if we were a football team, we would win the Super Bowl this year," Mattox said.

Since the medical community, city of Houston and its Fire Department formed a cohesive emergency medical response system in the 1960s and '70s, the fire department's Emergency Medical Services unit has become internationally renowned, Mattox said.

"There is not any better EMS system in the world than the one in existence in this country," he said.

Michael Ivy, EMS assistant fire chief, thanked the survivors for reminding paramedics and firefighters that they make a difference.

"You are the best proof, to all the fellow firefighters in this room, to see all their training and efforts are worthwhile," he said.

Paramedics seldom learn what happens to the people they treat or how patients' lives are affected after a heart attack or major medical emergency, said Dr. David E. Persse, EMS physician director.

"We don't always get the rest of this story; that's why we had this event," he said.

 

 

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