Lisa Salberg
08-19-2004, 10:01 PM
This case was brought to my attention today because a reporter called the HCMA. It appears that the water park had 2 AED's yet nobody used them. Sarah fell at about 10:49am and off duty nurse was near by and noted there was no pulse - on site EMT RESPONDED - WITHOUT the AED - then called for the AED - did not use it. The ambulance arrived at 10:58- started an IV - applied a C-Collar and then at 11:06 gave the first AED shock.
Every minute that passes between cardiac arrest and defibrillation decreases the chance success- - by approximately 10% per minute. After 10 minutes there is not much chance of life.
This is one of the most tragic stories I have heard in a while. No death is easy to take - but to see that a chance of life was so close - well it is out right tragic and avoidable. Sarah had a good chance of survival but it was lost. I would like SOMEONE to find out WHY the AED's were not used in accordance with standard EMS procedures.
July 14, 2004 -
Heart problem caused girl's death, officials say
A 12-year-old girl who collapsed at NRH20 water park Wednesday
and died a short time later suffered from a heart condition,
officials said.
Sarah Friend, 12, of North Richland Hills collapsed as she
climbed the steps of The Green Extreme water coaster at the water
park. She was taken to North Hills Hospital, where she died of
hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition that causes that heart
wall to become thick and disrupt the blood flow, relatives said
Thursday.
"We had no idea," said her mother, Laura Friend. "She had her
physicals every year. She was a healthy, strong-spirited girl."
Sarah had just completed her last day of junior lifeguard
training at the water park Wednesday and was playing with a friend,
said her father, Luther Friend.
On Thursday, the family was still recovering from the shock of
Sarah's death.
Laura Friend spent all of her time with her daughter, who loved
to stay at home. They took walks, talked about books and baked
brownies together.
"We fought about who would lick the bowl," she said.
Sarah loved the water. Her mother and she were planning a pool
party for her birthday, Aug. 10. She played the clarinet in band
and was planning to join the choir in her last year at Smithfield
Middle School.
Albertsons, the company where Luther Friend is employed, will
hold a two-minute moment of silence at 9 a.m. Saturday in its
Metroplex stores.
"I'm nothing without her. She was everything to me," Laura
Friend said. "She was so beautiful, so special, the perfect child."
Every minute that passes between cardiac arrest and defibrillation decreases the chance success- - by approximately 10% per minute. After 10 minutes there is not much chance of life.
This is one of the most tragic stories I have heard in a while. No death is easy to take - but to see that a chance of life was so close - well it is out right tragic and avoidable. Sarah had a good chance of survival but it was lost. I would like SOMEONE to find out WHY the AED's were not used in accordance with standard EMS procedures.
July 14, 2004 -
Heart problem caused girl's death, officials say
A 12-year-old girl who collapsed at NRH20 water park Wednesday
and died a short time later suffered from a heart condition,
officials said.
Sarah Friend, 12, of North Richland Hills collapsed as she
climbed the steps of The Green Extreme water coaster at the water
park. She was taken to North Hills Hospital, where she died of
hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition that causes that heart
wall to become thick and disrupt the blood flow, relatives said
Thursday.
"We had no idea," said her mother, Laura Friend. "She had her
physicals every year. She was a healthy, strong-spirited girl."
Sarah had just completed her last day of junior lifeguard
training at the water park Wednesday and was playing with a friend,
said her father, Luther Friend.
On Thursday, the family was still recovering from the shock of
Sarah's death.
Laura Friend spent all of her time with her daughter, who loved
to stay at home. They took walks, talked about books and baked
brownies together.
"We fought about who would lick the bowl," she said.
Sarah loved the water. Her mother and she were planning a pool
party for her birthday, Aug. 10. She played the clarinet in band
and was planning to join the choir in her last year at Smithfield
Middle School.
Albertsons, the company where Luther Friend is employed, will
hold a two-minute moment of silence at 9 a.m. Saturday in its
Metroplex stores.
"I'm nothing without her. She was everything to me," Laura
Friend said. "She was so beautiful, so special, the perfect child."