Alabama Firemedics Prevent Mardi Gras Tragedy

Mobile Firemedics/Firefighters successfully revived a Masker who suffered a heart attack on a float during the Mobile Mystics Parade, Saturday, February 10, 2007.

The incident occurred at approximately 3:50 p.m. as the float was pulling onto Civic Center Drive at Claiborne Street at the end of the parade.

Firemedic Captain Stanley Vinson and Firefighter-EMT Ken McLarty, who were assigned to a bicycle team during the parade, were assigned to cover the east side of the parade route. The pair had been riding around and came back to where the parade was ending at the corner of Claiborne and Civic Center Drive were they had parked their bikes and were standing on Civic Center Drive waiting for all of the remaining floats to return.

Vinson had turned his back to the floats and was talking to someone in the crowd when someone off the float grabbed him by the arm and advised him there was someone down on the float and needed help. Vinson started toward the float and, which was only about fifteen feet from him and called out to his partner McLarty to inform him they had a call.

When Vinson got on the float everyone was yelling that the patient, who was later identified as Robert Brooke, 49, of Saraland, was up on the top level.

As Vinson approached Brooke he was found lying flat on his back and had a brown teddy bear under his head. Brooke was beginning to turn blue. Vinson quickly assessed Brooke and found he was not breathing and didn’t have a pulse. Vinson pulled the teddy bear from under Brooke’s head while doing the assessment.

As Vinson opened Brooke’s airway Brooke took a gasping breath, as patients sometimes do when they first go into cardiopulmonary arrest. By this time McLarty was up on the float with Vinson and saw they had an arrest and McLarty went to get all the equipment from their bikes including the Automated External Defibrillator (AED).

CPR was started immediately. The airway was opened and maintained with an oral airway and Vinson ventilated the patient using a bag-valve-mask. Mobile Fire-Rescue Parade Command had been advised that they had an arrest and needed an ambulance for transport.

At this time a couple of off duty firefighters, Eric Culpepper and Ed Hudson came onto the float with Vinson and McLarty to help out. They had been watching the parade from close by and could tell they had an emergency.

One of them, Firefighter-Driver Ed Hudson started doing the chest compressions and assisted with removing Brooke’s shirt as the AED was applied to Brooke’s. Once the AED was applied Vinson had everyone stop what they were doing so the AED could analyze Brooke.

The AED recommended to shock the patient and immediately charged up. Vinson could see the rhythm was course ventricular fibrillation, which means an abnormal irregular heart rhythm. Once the AED was charged Vinson called clear and made sure everyone was clear and pushed the button to deliver the shock.

Once the shock was delivered the AED reanalyzed Brooke and recommended no shock and Vinson could see that Brooke had converted to an agonal rhythm, which is still not a normal heart rate but improving. Ventilations were continued. Brooke then had a return of a pulse and was trying to take some agonal respirations. Vinson continued to assist Brooke’s ventilations. Chest compressions were stopped because of the return of the pulse.

Other personal had arrived and Brooke was placed onto a long back board and strapped onto it. Brooke was then removed from the float and onto the stretcher and into the awaiting Mobile Fire-Rescue Rescue Ambulance beside the float.

Once in the back of the ambulance Brooke began to move and started waking up. Care of Brooke was transferred to the transport crew at that time and taken to Mobile Infirmary, while in route to the hospital he was talking to the firefighters and firemedics that were taking him to the hospital. A few days later Brooke was released from the hospital and doing fine.