CG had been the former Vice-President’s bodyguard and driver for a long time. He had been assigned to him when he started his term and stayed with him when he left office. CG drove everywhere with the former VP.
A few times every week, he drove him to the gym for a workout. CG usually used the time to get a work-out in too.
So he was in the gym that day the former VP collapsed. CG rushed over. He was certified in Basic Life Support (BLS) and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR).
He called out the VP’s name. There was no response.
He felt for a pulse. There was none. His breathing was fast and shallow.
He immediately turned the VP on his back, knelt beside him and started pumping on his chest and called out, “Someone, please get the AED and another person should call 999!”
A man standing close by said he was a doctor, got out his phone and called 999.
One of the gym instructors got an AED, a Code Box, and an oxygen tank and brought them over.
The doctor attached the AED even as he talked into the phone. The screen of the AED lit up. The rhythm looked erratic. The AED said it was not shockable. CG restarted CPR.
The doctor was on the phone.
“The former VP collapsed at the gym. He is pulseless but the rhythm is not shockable. We are still doing CPR. I think it is cardiac and he needs to get to Cardio ASAP. Send an ambulance.”
At that point, CG called out, “Traffic at this time will be crazy. Let’s have him airlifted!”
The gym instructor took over CPR so CG could take a break. He was certified in CPR too. All the gym instructors were.
The doctor was still on the phone.
“Can we get him airlifted?….yes, there is a field the copter can land right next to the gym…ok, holding on”.
He turned his attention back to the VP.
“Let’s check his rhythm again”, he ordered.
The gym instructor turned back the AED on. The rhythm was clearly V-fib.
The AED asked all to step back as it shocked.
“Zapp!”
The body of the VP was convulsed by 150 J.
The rhythm stayed erratic.
“Zapp!”
The body convulsed again.
A straight line appeared on the screen….and then a rhythm! 30, 40, 50, 60…rhythmic.
They were all staring at the screen panting.
The doctor was back on the phone.
“We got a rhythm. He has a pulse. Great!”
He hung up and informed everyone in the gym:
“The helicopter is on its way. Cardio is aware. The cardiac catheterization lab team is ready. An ICU bed is available. the heart surgery and stroke teams are on standby.”
In the distance, one could hear the rotor blades of the helicopter tearing through the warm air of an Accra morning.
CG and the doctor are kneeling beside the former VP watching him like a hawk. He still had a pulse. His breathing fast and shallow.
The doctor wondered if he should intubate the VP. The helicopter has landed. He decided against it. Instead, he got the oxygen mask, placed it over the VP’s face, hooked it to the oxygen tank and turned the oxygen up.
The paramedics burst into the gym like Green Berets, dragging a gurney with a monitor behind them.
One got an IV. in the left arm in no time and hooked up a lactated Ringer’s infusion The other hooked the VP to the transport monitor. All the time, they watched his rhythm like hawks. Then they moved him onto their gurney.
Just after they moved him, the VP went into V-fib again.
“Zapp!” 150J! “Zapp!” 200J! Zapp! 250J
He converted.
They raced for the helicopter, the doctor and CG in tow.
The helicopter took off heading towards Cardio.
Would the former VP have made it in this alternative universe? Who knows?
We all would have rejoiced if he had made it!
And if he hadn’t?
We would all mourn him like we are doing now but with a clear difference. We would mourn knowing that all efforts were made to save him and that if any one of us ever found himself or herself in such a situation, we would have the same resources at our disposal…
….in that alternative universe.