By Mary Ann Thomas
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
PITTSBURGH 鈥� For two EMTs at the U.S. Steel Clairton Coke Works, it was a typical spring work day.
Lucas Park and Eric Feltner were among 60 safety and fire rescue workers who staff the steelmaker鈥檚 three Pittsburgh Mon Valley Works plants 24/7, handling general safety issues 鈥� most often minor incidents when workers slip or fall or sustain cuts.
But a medical emergency on April 7 turned dire quickly.
U.S. Steel鈥檚 internal dispatch center rushed Park and Feltner to the plant鈥檚 Battery 19, a site featuring walls of coke ovens that heat coal to convert to coke, a main ingredient in steelmaking.
The EMTs hustled to the site with a self-contained breathing apparatus and other equipment.
There in the basement of the battery lay Eddie Edwards, a utility technician. Edwards, 34, of Pitcairn, was conducting routine maintenance work when he collapsed.
He was unconscious with no pulse and was in cardiac arrest, said Park, a fire inspector and EMT.
Of the more than 356,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occurring annually in the United States, nearly 90% are fatal, according to the American Heart Association.
Timing of treatment is crucial, said Matt Lambert, Allegheny Health Network鈥檚 pre-hospital business development specialist.
鈥淲e like to remind people that immediate CPR can nearly triple the chance of survival for sudden cardiac arrest,鈥� he said.
Park and Feltner, another EMT/firefighter, started CPR chest compressions on Edwards and attached the pads of an automated external defibrillator to his chest, Feltner said.
They shocked Edwards with the device, which produced an electric current to jump-start his heart, and continued administering CPR for three rounds.
Another EMT, Craig Clements, showed up. The three men took turns applying life-saving measures and inserted an oral airway so Edwards could breathe and not swallow his tongue.
Edwards鈥� pulse returned and he started breathing on his own, but that was only half of the job. They needed to move him from the small space.
鈥淚t would be a difficult extrication. He was in a basement that was subgrade,鈥� Feltner said.
Due to Edwards鈥� size and a set of stairs, the EMTs had to chart a path.
They employed a foldable stretcher, but they could not carry him alone. The battery foreman called some of the workers in the area for extra manpower to lift Edwards out of the basement, Park said. They carried him about 200 feet to the stairwell, then another 100 feet to an ambulance.
鈥淲hile all of this was happening, another EMT, Jason Maxwell, got the ambulance down to the site and prepared for us. We didn鈥檛 have to wait for it. We were able to contact them through the dispatch.鈥�
When the EMTs handed off Edwards to the ambulance, he was breathing but non-verbal. He was taken to Jefferson Hospital and discharged to his family within five days of his cardiac arrest with full functionality, Lambert said.
鈥淭he fact he walked out with full functionality after a cardiac arrest is rare,鈥� Lambert said. 鈥淎 lot of times, you can survive, but you might not return to the state of well-being you had before.鈥�
Edwards, who has returned to work, said via email that he was grateful to the rescue team and the 鈥渁mazing people I work with.
鈥淚 truly believe that I would not be here today if it weren鈥檛 for their quick actions to save my life,鈥� he said.
He also thanked Allegheny Health Network for a successful surgery and recovery.
鈥淭he defibrillator they gave me will help make sure that the end of my shift means coming home to my wife and kids,鈥� he said.
On June 21, Edwards, his wife Stephanie and their children, Brooklynn, Chase and Scarlett. were on the field at PNC Park for a ceremony honoring the EMTs as part of the Great Saves program, a partnership between AHN and the Pittsburgh Pirates to raise awareness of the importance of immediate CPR after sudden cardiac arrest.
The current preferred method of CPR for intervening bystanders is chest compressions, not mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, Lambert added.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important for EMTs to reunite with the patient and family. It doesn鈥檛 get more red, white and blue than that,鈥� he said.
The emergency medical technicians hadn鈥檛 seen Edwards since his cardiac arrest.
鈥淚t was truly amazing to see somebody we revived back like that,鈥� Park said. 鈥淚t was great seeing him with his family.鈥�
For Feltner, the most rewarding thing is 鈥渒nowing the fact this person would not be alive if we did not do that rapid intervention, knowing he is going home to his family.鈥�
Having an EMT on-site and a dispatcher to coordinate saves so much valuable time, he said. 鈥淓very second counts in this situation.鈥�
U. S. Steel employs full-time EMTs who conduct other safety work to mitigate risk and improve safety, said Andrew Fulton , a U.S. Steel spokesman.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the right thing to do. There鈥檚 no requirement, but U. S. Steel elects to have them on hand to respond to emergencies.鈥�
For more information on CPR methods and certifications, visit the American Heart Association website at .
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