On the evening of May 29th, ranger Erika Andersson was stationed at the Phantom Ranger Station at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. A paramedic on detail to Grand Canyon National Park from the Rocky Mountain Fire Department was also at Phantom staffing the Ranger Station Clinic. Temperatures had been in excess of 100 degrees that day, and hundreds of hikers and backpackers had passed through the area. Both Andersson and the paramedic had responded to multiple medical calls and hiker assists that day. Following an evening medical call, they joined Phantom Ranch employees for dinner at the Ranch.
As they began dinner, the paramedic began to choke on his food, and his airway became completely occluded. He was unable to expel the food by himself and realized that he would soon lose consciousness. Ranger Andersson quickly recognized his distress and initiated the Heimlich maneuver. After four abdominal thrusts, the paramedic was able to expel the food and began to breath normally. The paramedic later stated, "Erika's quick thinking and ability to put her training into practice quite possibly saved my life."
Shortly after this incident, Ranger Andersson was called back into service to respond to another emergency in the Phantom area.
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June 20, 2014 01:52PM |
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