Posted by Harrison Jones, For The Evening Sun on Jul 25th 2020
After nearly drowning, 5-year-old Pa. girl met the first responders who saved her life
After nearly drowning, 5-year-old Pa. girl met the first responders who saved her life
Elsa, a 5-year-old girl from Adams County, along with her family, met the first responders who helped save her life on July 4.
Harrison Jones / July 19, 2020
Elsa, 5, holds onto a play fire helmet posing with her siblings for a photo while Elsa and her family meet the first responders who saved Elsa's life, Saturday, July 18, 2020, at Alpha Fire Company in Littlestown, PA. Elsa was involved in a near-drowning on Fish & Game Road in Germany Township on July 4th, and was revived while in cardiac arrest by her father who performed CPR and numerous first responders. Harrison Jones, For The Evening Sun
“Cookies are nice,” said EMS Captain Mike Cahill, of Alpha Fire Company, standing in the engine bay of his department in Littlestown.
“But seeing that little girl run around makes all of this work worthwhile.”
That was the experience shared by several first responders Saturday afternoon, when Elsa, 5, got to meet those who helped save her life after she nearly drowned in a pool on the Fourth of July in Germany Township.
The first time they had met, Elsa was unconscious and on the brink of death, with crews racing to stabilize her and get her airlifted to Hershey Hospital.
This time, Elsa was the one racing around, running through the station adorned in a fire helmet as red as her hair. She and her siblings were treated to a special tour of the station and its apparatus, hopping around seats of engines, tankers, and ambulances, all led by some of the first responders who saved her life.
Elsa, 5, hides behind her uncle, Steven Mathias, as Firefighter/EMT Bill Troup introduces himself. Harrison Jones / The Evening Sun
Those responders that fateful day included firefighter Brandon Spielman, Fire Policeman Terry Lookingbill, Firefighter/EMT Bill Troup, EMS Captain Cahill, EMT Braxtin Leatherman, Firefighter/EMT Danny Hartlaub, Firefighter Travis Reifsnider, Captain Ryan Gladhill, Firefighter Travis Snider, Firefighter Brent Allison, Firefighter/EMT Brett Dillman, and Community Lifeteam Paramedic Rob Bonner.
“We are just so filled with gratitude,” Elsa’s mother, Stephanie Noel said, standing with her husband, Kris.
EMS Captain Cahill stressed that the first responders, too, had someone to thank for this moment: Kris.
The family asked that their last name not be used in this story and that Elsa's mother be referred to as Stephanie Noel.
Elsa, 5, is lifted into the air by her mother, Stephanie Noel. Harrison Jones / The Evening Sun
***
It was just before 3:26 p.m. on the Fourth of July, and Stephanie was in an above-ground pool at a relative’s house with her four children, Elsa, Emma, Presley, and Tristian, having fun in the summer heat.
At one point, Elsa got out of the pool, and took off her "puddle-jumper" — a life-vest with arm-floaties — so that she could run inside and use the bathroom.
Stephanie got out with Elsa as well, and dried off. Moments later, Stephanie was startled by the shouting of her 8-year-old niece, who was yelling from the pool. The niece found Elsa face down in the pool, fishing her lifeless body from the water and immediately passing her to Stephanie.
“While my back was turned, she must have gotten back in and not remembered her life jacket,” said Stephanie.
From left, firefighter Brandon Spielman, fire policeman Terry Lookingbill, Firefighter/EMT Bill Troup, Tristian, Elsa, 5, Presley, Emma, 5, EMS Captain Mike Cahill, Firefighter/EMT Eric Noss, and Firefighter Travis Reifsnider pose for a portrait. Harrison Jones / The Evening Sun
Family and first responders take part in a moment of prayer for Elsa, 5, at bottom right. Harrison Jones / The Evening Sun
Stephanie, despite the horrific ordeal unfolding in front of her, knew immediately what she had to do.
“I had to get her to Kris,” recalled Stephanie. “Kris could fix her.”
Stephanie ran Elsa to Elsa’s father, Kris, a Sheriff's Deputy in Maryland, who has been CPR certified for 11 years.
In those eleven years, Kris has had experience putting his training into action, having performed CPR on adults.
But this time, it was a child, and more specifically, it was his own daughter.
“She was dead in my arms,” Kris recalled. “I freaked out for half a second, and then I just kicked into being like a robot. I went right for it, and I was just in work mode.”
It was around that time the Adams County 911 Communications Center was issuing a dispatch no first responder wants to hear: a five-year-old in cardiac arrest as a result of a near-drowning.
Dispatch tones whirled through Adams County firehouses, alerting personnel from Alpha Fire Company and a Community LifeTeam paramedic to the call on Fish & Game Road in Germany Township.
Alpha Fire Company EMS Captain Mike Cahill was relaxing with family at home for the holiday when he was alerted to the call, responding within seconds. Captain Cahill was the first responder on the scene, running in to find Kris performing CPR on Elsa.
Elsa, 5, stands in the back of a fire engine. Harrison Jones / The Evening Sun
Cahill immediately began his primary assessment of Elsa, finding encouraging signs. Most importantly of these signs, Elsa was breathing on her own. His main concern then became an airway and ventilation issue, and he started Elsa on supplemental oxygen.
With concerns about Elsa’s airway, Cahill knew she would need to be stabilized with a protective definitive airway. This requires a procedure called a “Rapid Sequence Intubation,” where a patient is sedated to suppress their gag reflex and a tube is placed into the patient’s trachea.
Due to Pennsylvania medical regulations, paramedics are unable to perform a rapid sequence intubation in the field, Cahill said. This left them with two choices: race their unstable patient to Gettysburg Hospital to stabilize her there, or call in a helicopter with a flight nurse that is trained to perform the intubation on the scene.
With her dire need for stabilization on-scene, the helicopter was called. Within moments, a helicopter from STAT MedEvac, based out of York airport, roared into the air.
Cahill and his fellow responders hurried Elsa to the landing zone, which had been set up by firefighters in the parking lot of Bethel Assembly of God property on Frederick Pike.
With the skids of the helicopter on the ground, the flight nurse and flight medic from the helicopter began to work on Elsa. The helicopter crew spent about an hour on the ground, performing the rapid sequence intubation and ensuring she was stable enough for the flight to Hershey.
Having arrived with a crew of three, the helicopter was soon departing with five, as Elsa’s mom joined Elsa in her flight to Hershey.
“It was the worst flight of my entire life,” said Stephanie, “It was so hard to sit there unable to do anything. I didn't want to interrupt them or take their focus away from her, even for a second.”
While Stephanie’s flight with her daughter is an uncommon occurrence in a medical helicopter, Cahill stressed that in emergency medicine, you’re treating the family right alongside the patient.
Once at Hershey Medical Center, Elsa was placed on a ventilator. In a procedure true to Elsa’s “Frozen” namesake, hospital staff kept her body temperature low to safeguard against brain damage.
During her stay and after the ventilator was removed, Stephanie was surprised by one of Elsa’s first requests.
“While she was in the hospital, she told us the first thing she wanted to do is come back and go swimming,” said Stephanie.
By July 9, Elsa was headed home. Her wish to go swimming again would soon come true, with Elsa having her first swim on the 17th. “She was so excited to be in the pool,” Stephanie said.
***
Since becoming the EMS Captain of Alpha Fire Company, improving the survival rate of his cardiac arrest patients has been one of Cahill’s forefront objectives.
Even when someone is witnessed going into cardiac arrest, the national survival rate is about 8 percent, Cahill said. Cahill wants that number to improve, and knows that it can, noting that the Seattle Fire Department in Seattle, Washington, was able to get their witnessed survival rate to 50 percent.
The problem departments face, Cahill explained, is ensuring CPR begins within the first ten minutes of a patient entering cardiac arrest. If not, the survival rate quickly falls to the 8 percent number.
By the time a phone call is placed to 911 and units are dispatched, the clock is already ticking for several minutes, leaving little time for what is often several minutes of travel time for responding units.
For Alpha Fire Company, the problem can be even more difficult, as the majority of their staffing, other than a staffed ambulance, is volunteer. This often requires volunteers to respond to the fire station from their homes before they can head to a scene on apparatus.
“What we need is our bystanders to start CPR,” Cahill said, “we need that time.”
That concept was shown off in Elsa's story, Cahill noted, with her father's bystander CPR improving her odds.
Last year, to better help protect the community, Alpha Fire Company started offering CPR classes to members of the public. The full certification classes is four-hours and costs 30 dollars, while their hands-only non-certification classes are free and take about five minutes.
Thanks to this initiative, Alpha Fire Company has already taught over 100 members of the public, Cahill said.
Cahill hopes those hearing Elsa’s story will be inspired, too, to take a class.
“What this call shows is that you really never know, and if you have a child or care for a parent, you may need to perform CPR,” said Cahill.
From left, Tristian, Elsa, Presley, and Emma pose for a portrait. Harrison Jones / The Evening Sun