PULSE Magazine | June/July 2018 Issue PE

On November 16th 2017 a life was forever changed. Former Pennsylvania Gover- nor and United States Secretary of Homeland Secu- rity Tom Ridge was in Austin Texas attending a confer- ence. Upon waking Thursday morning Mr. Ridge said he was not feeling well. He quickly researched his symp- toms and felt that he was ex- periencing a cardiac event. Mr. Ridge states he struggled to get to the hotel phone to inform the operator of his need for emergency assis- tance. Mr. Ridge was found in cardiac arrest in his room minutes after he placed that urgent call. The responding medical team worked on him for over an hour. During that time first responders performed CPR getting his

pulse back reviving him on three separate occasions during transport to the local emergency department. He spent over a week in the hospital, followed by months at home recovering from a massive heart attack. An event he feels he would likely not have survived had he been anywhere else in the world. Mr. Ridge states “I owe my life to the first responders who so diligently worked to save my life. I'm filled with both admiration and gratitude for their persistence and their training.” He continues to express his deep and pro- found appreciation for all that the medic crew did for him during his time of peril. He has fully recovered from the cardiac event that made such an impact on his life.

Tom Ridge nominated the Austin Travis County EMS responding medics for the American Ambulance Associ- ation Stars of Life 2018 award. He stated “These first responders kept me alive. They are the first to respond and the last to leave. I look forward to seeing my friends from ATCEMS to personally express my deep apprecia- tion.”

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