City employee helps save life

With shallow breath sounds, no pulse, and a call to start CPR, a normal day in Amy Fortenberry’s life changed.

Fortenberry, Plano’s recreation services manager, was attending a work conference in Wheeling, W.V. on Aug. 25. During a session, the instructor fell face first into the base of the podium. Fortenberry said at first she thought it was a stunt to see how people would react, then she said she realized even the best actor couldn’t fall like that. As it turned out, the man, Jim Niskanen parks director for Modesto, California, was having a heart attack.

Fortenberry and another conference attendee checked for a pulse, neither could find one. People were relieved to find that he was breathing, but Fortenberry thought his breathing was labored.

“When Jim went down he had agonal respirations,” Fortenberry said. “I knew to start CPR right away.”

Agonal respiration is irregular gasping breaths often seen during cardiac arrest. No more than 10-12 breaths per minute are taken. According to the website About.com, who verifies their information with a medical review board, agonal respiration doesn’t provide enough oxygen and should be considered the same a not breathing.

Fortenberry said at the time when she checked to see if the man was breathing, she recalled a conversation with her husband a few years back when he explained to her what agonal respiration was.

“If I hadn’t had that discussion with my husband there might have been a different outcome,” Fortenberry said.

Fortenberry was joined in her efforts to save the man by Lisa Cline, recreation supervisor in Midland, TX. Together the two performed CPR and used an AED machine to bring the man back. AEDs, automated external defibrillator, are machines that can be purchased for a home or business residence.

AEDs are used to restore normal heart rhythm to patients in cardiac arrest which is fatal if not treated within a few minutes of the onset. In 2005 the city of Plano purchased AEDs for all city recreation centers. All recreation center employees are trained not only in CPR, but AED use also.

“Having quick access to the AED made all the difference,” Fortenberry said. “It’s been a vital addition to have on hand.”

In the past year and a half, Plano city employees have used AED machines twice. Sara Deats and Pam Perry, both Plano city employees, were successful in using the AED machine to bring people back who were in cardiac arrest. Fortenberry said that one of the people saved by AED even donated an additional machine to the city for future use.

Fortenberry said she’s a little embarrassed about all the attention she has received since the conference. She said a few days after the incident, the man’s cardiologist and paramedics came to the conference and deputized everyone for their efforts. However, Fortenberry would prefer the attention go to educating the public on the positives of AED use.

“If everyone goes back and tells people what happened that day,” Fortenberry said. “Word will spread and AED use could be on the rise.”

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