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| Pictured L to R: Officer Metcalf, Chief Stark, and Ambulance Director John Fox |
On the afternoon of Friday, February 19, Wabasha Police Officer Dan Metcalf was getting ready to referee a game at the Wabasha Kellogg High School. He is the school liaison officer, and he also referees basketball games. As the game was about to begin, Dan heard fans in the stands calling his name and trying to get his attention. Wabasha Police Chief Joe Stark said, “It’s a small town, and everyone knows him.”
Metcalf went up into the stands and found a 64-year-old woman had collapsed and did not have a pulse. Metcalf and some of the people in the crowd carried the woman down to the gym floor. Metcalf requested that someone call 911 and get an AED (automated external defribillator).
Metcalf began CPR until one of the students arrived with the AED. He applied the AED and delivered one shock. It had no apparent effect. He continued CPR, and about a minute later the moment you always hope for happened. The woman gasped. She was regaining consciousness, and her heart had started working.
Metcalf stayed with her until the ambulance arrived. The woman was taken to the local hospital and then flown by helicopter to St. Mary’s in Rochester. She is doing well and has returned to work.
Dan received a lifesaving award from the city and from the ambulance service. The woman he saved attended the ceremony, and Ambulance Director John Fox used the moment to stress the importance of starting CPR immediately upon determining that a person is in cardiac arrest—as well as the quick application of an AED.
And yes, after the ambulance left, Metcalf went back to the gym and refereed the game.
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In the meantime, stay safe and be careful.
Rob
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