April 4, 2018 started like any other day for Doug Hix. He and his wife, Teresa, planned to spend the day in Colo visiting her parents. Little did they know the trip, similar to others they had made hundreds of times before, would find Doug fighting for his life.
Shortly after arriving in Colo, Doug went into cardiac arrest.
“I just dropped over,” Doug says. “My wife started CPR immediately and my mother-in-law, who is 94 years old, called 911.”
The 911 call was routed to Story Medical and an ambulance was dispatched immediately.
Within minutes, the paramedic team took over CPR from the Colo First Responders, stabilized Doug, and rushed him to Story Medical.
Upon arriving at Story Medical, the care team led by Dr. Art Check, delivered a shock to restart Doug’s heart, stabilized him and prepared him for transfer via helicopter to UnityPoint Health - Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines. Story Medical has the only on-site helipad in Story County, making the transfer to a more advanced level of care in Des Moines more efficient.
“While I don’t remember much of anything, I’ve been told that I had to be shocked six more times on the flight to Des Moines,” Doug says. “I have no doubt that the people at Story Medical saved me.”
Doug was in the hospital in Des Moines for a month. He had a pacemaker with a defibrillator implanted to prevent a re-occurrence and started Cardiac Rehab at Story Medical as soon as he could.
“It was recommended I do cardiac rehab in Des Moines, but I told them I wanted to go to Story Medical,” Doug says. “The doctors kept me from dying, but it was the cardiac rehab team at Story Medical that gave me my life back.
“I’m back to where I was before and I couldn’t be happier with the outcome,” he continues. “Without every link in the chain, I wouldn’t be here.”
READ THE FULL ISSUE!
The Summer 2019 issue of Inspired Magazine includes information about new Story Medical physician and Nevada native Audra Poterucha, DO, a feature on the new Story Medical ambulance, details on the Best of Story County awards won by two Story Medical providers, and a thank you to the donors who supported the construction of the addition to our South Campus.
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