Hanover
Last month’s event, a singing competition based off the popular television series American Idol, was memorable, but not in the way he had envisioned.
All the 63-year-old Rutland resident recalls from that Friday in the Spaulding Auditorium was where he was standing on the stage when he went into cardiac arrest and collapsed.
“At that point, this was going through my head,” Ingalls said on Monday as he raised his trumpet to his lips and played the bugle call Taps. “Fortunately, that wasn’t the end of the story.”
It very well could have been, though, said Tom Trimarco, a physician and the emergency medical services director at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.
Instead, four bystanders — Kevin Malenda, Nathaniel Graves, Keely Ayres and Nikhil Arora — jumped into action and ran to Ingalls’ aid, and they, along with an automated external defibrillator, saved his life.
Hanover Fire Capt. Josh Merriam and Ingalls recounted that March day on Monday as part of an event to honor the bystanders and others involved in the resuscitation efforts, as well as to raise awareness on how early intervention can mean the difference between life and death.
“They performed CPR, they utilized AEDs and they saved lives,” Trimarco said in front of an audience of about 65 firefighters, police officers, bystanders, family members and Hopkins Center for the Arts staff.
A second group of bystanders also were honored on Monday for their quick actions on Dec. 28 when a boy collapsed on the basketball court at the Lyme School during a holiday basketball tournament.
Madonna Gordon, Nathan Maxwell, Cory Austin and Aaron Rich didn’t hesitate when the boy collapsed. The boy tried to get up, but collapsed a second time and appeared to be having a seizure. That’s when Maxwell and Rich, both members of the Lyme Fire Department who were in attendance at the tournament, stepped in.
Austin, the West Fairlee assistant fire chief, and Gordon, a nurse, were close behind.
Together, the four called 911 and gave chest compressions, rescue breaths and electronic shocks from an AED to the boy, who had no pulse, but eventurally regained consciousness.
“He was brought back in less than 8 minutes from the time of cardiac arrest,” Trimarco said. “Most urban EMS systems hope to get to a patient’s side in eight minutes. In the Upper Valley, given our rural setting, an eight-minute response time is excellent.
“This highlights the importance and need for bystander involvement. (The boy) couldn’t be here today. But that’s because he is doing what other normal fifth-graders are doing. He is in school.”
Both the boy, whose family asked that he not be named, and Ingalls are doing well today.
“You have given this kid back to himself and to us and to the community,” his aunt said from the lectern at center stage. “God bless you, every day.”
At the outset of the hourlong event, Trimarco, the Dartmouth physician, provided the audience with a few statistics, some of which were met with surprise.
The American Heart Association reports that there are more than 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests each year in the United States. Only about 10 percent of victims survive, Trimarco said.
“We know this can be better,” he said, adding it’s a statistic that could be improved by early intervention.
While 50 percent of respondents to a heart association-commissioned survey said they would get involved if they had the chance to, 13 percent said they had had a chance to help a victim in the past but decided not to, Trimarco said.
Trimarco hopes to improve that statistic with a new program called Take 10 Upper Valley, which is being rolled out by Dartmouth-Hitchcock officials and Upper Valley rescue personnel.
Events will be held throughout Upper Valley communities and are designed to inform people in about 10 minutes what they should do if they witness someone in cardiac arrest.
The program is also intended to get members of the public more comfortable with the idea of performing CPR.
The most important part, Trimarco said, is “hard and fast” chest compressions.
Trimarco also touched on the importance of people becoming familiar with where AED machines are located.
The machines, which can range between about $800 and $1,500, are becoming more prevalent in today’s society.
“For the cost of doing business, it is very minimal when you are talking about saving someone’s life,” said Ingalls, the man who was brought back to life on the auditorium stage from which he spoke on Monday.
Ingalls again raised his trumpet to his lips, but this time he played When the Saints Go Marching In.
His instrumentals were met by loud applause.
Jordan Cuddemi can be reached at jcuddemi@vnews.com or 603-727-3248.