Pickleball Points: Heroes are made in the moment
This summer, I am offering indoor round-robin tournaments at the Desert Sports Center in Palm Desert. With the temperatures skyrocketing, it is a great opportunity for those of us who are here year-round to play inside with air conditioning.

My first event was June 5. With only six courts at this venue, I can only handle 60-80 players, and we had 65! We had singles, rotating doubles, men’s and women’s doubles, and mixed doubles. The inside temperature was 74 degrees ... heavenly!

Around 12:30 p.m., we had a medical emergency. Micaela Wilkey, who was playing mixed doubles after playing women’s doubles, collapsed to the floor. Micaela gave me her permission to write about what happened.

This is where the heroes come in.

One of our players, Donna Gioia, yelled to me to call 911. I told Ashley Walker, a staff member at the Desert Sports Center, to call and stay on the line to answer questions.

Player Victor Montes, a nurse practitioner, saw Micaela on the ground. He and his doubles partner, Kristin Anderson, went over to assist.

“She was seizing and shaking, but still breathing,” Victor recalled. “Suddenly, she started gasping and turned blue. I couldn’t feel a heart rate.”

Victor and another player, Frank Taylor, immediately went into action, taking turns giving chest compressions.

Victor has performed CPR in settings such as hospitals and nursing homes. But this was his first time doing it in the “real world.”

“It is different, because I wasn’t expecting that to happen,” said Victor, 44, who lives in Palm Desert and works in Rancho Mirage and Coachella. “Everything slows down, and there’s a sense of panic because everyone is trying to do the best they can.”

Joel Aguilera, another player, went and got the AED from the office, and quickly went into action to get the pads on and listen to the instructions.

According to the Red Cross, sudden cardiac arrest is one of the leading causes of death in the United States and the only way to restore a regular heart rhythm during cardiac arrest is to use an AED. The Red Cross notes that the average response time for first responders once 911 is called is 8 to 12 minutes, and for each minute defibrillation is delayed, the odds of survival are reduced by approximately 10%.

An AED, or automated external defibrillator, is a medical device that can help people experiencing sudden cardiac arrest. It's designed to be an easy-to-use machine that can analyze the heart's rhythm and, if necessary, deliver an electrical shock, or defibrillation, to help the heart re-establish an effective rhythm.

As Joel was getting the AED, we used scissors to cut Micaela’s clothing away. Kristin opened her airway and gave emergency breaths.

Micaela was turning blue, and we knew we had to keep her going until the ambulance and the EMTs arrived.

We did not use the AED to shock her because the machine explicitly tells you when you should or should not shock someone based on its readings of the patient’s heart rhythms.

When the EMTs arrived, they took over and continued compressions and analyzed Micaela’s condition. When they could not get any air in, they performed a tracheotomy so that they could get oxygen into her lungs. When they had her stable, they moved her to the ambulance and left for the hospital. The staff at Desert Sports Center facilitated the quick response and kept the rest of the players out of the way.

I canceled the rest of the tournament and sent everyone home. I assured them that they would get a credit for a future event, and that I would let them know what happened to Micaela and how she was doing.

We filled out an accident report. I reached out to Micaela’s work the next day, and to her women’s doubles partner to find out how she was doing. She was stable and in intensive care – thank God! Everyone at the tournament was worried and were checking in with me as to her condition.

Micaela’s mom, Laura, reached out to me two days later to let me know how she was doing: A doctor had performed surgery to install stents and Micaela had been put into an induced coma to stabilize her. She was now awake and did not remember anything about what happened.

Laura said the doctor told her that Micaela had had what is called a widowmaker heart attack. According to the Cleveland Clinic, widowmaker heart attacks happen when the left anterior descending artery, which supplies blood to the larger, front part of the heart, is blocked at its origin. Because it serves such a big portion of the heart, this artery is an especially dangerous place to get a clot. Significant damage can be done to the heart if blood flow isn’t restored rapidly.

The doctor told Micaela’s mom that only 5% of people survive when this happens. He said that what the players did to keep her alive with chest compressions and breaths had saved her life prior to the EMTs arrival.

I have been running tournaments since 2014, and I have never had a player go down. What if I did not have four highly trained players (a nurse practitioner, sheriff deputy, certified fitness trainer and an ex-cop) on site? These individuals stepped in and stepped up. They are heroes in my eyes, and I cannot thank them enough for their courage and willingness to help.

“It is a shock to see something like what happened (to Micaela), but it feels good to know she pulled through,” said Victor. “The one thing I’d tell others is to learn CPR. If you can try to do something, do it.”

Some lessons learned for tournament organizers and others:

• Be sure to have a working AED on-site at every club, recreational facility and tournament. If you can afford it, have EMT or emergency services qualified staff on hand the day of the tournament.
• If you know of players who have medical training, consider offering them a free entry to your event and ask them to be ready to help respond in case of an emergency.
• Have ice bags on hand for sprains and other injuries. Have a well-stocked first aid kit on site.
• Know how far away the first responders are from your site. Perhaps even communicate with them prior to the event to let them know you will be having a tournament.
• As the tournament progresses, observe if any players are struggling, or appear to be uncomfortable or struggling with injury or heat issues. Urge anyone who seems to be having issues to take a break. If you’re the event organizer, you may need to use your authority to suspend play.
• If a player has a pre-existing condition, you will want to know that. In the registration process, ask about specific conditions. Also, ask if they have insurance.
• Be sure to get an emergency contact number for every entrant.

I pay for liability insurance, and I have all the players read and sign a waiver and a hold harmless agreement. Micaela had signed that paperwork, but regardless, I feel a huge responsibility to make any event I’m involved in organizing as safe as possible. Organizers of events should prepare such paperwork and make sure participants sign it, but there is also the need to make additional plans to deal with emergencies. For example, I’m considering purchasing an AED for all my future events. They start at around $1,200 but some models can cost twice that. Consider one for your venue.

We have so many players of all ages and fitness levels playing pickleball. We need to be aware of the dangers of over-exerting, and each player needs to know when to slow down or stop playing, especially if we are outside in the heat. I am so proud of my people who acted quickly, and I am so thankful that Micaela is at home and on the mend.