{"id":173485,"date":"2021-05-27T14:36:50","date_gmt":"2021-05-27T18:36:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=173485"},"modified":"2022-06-22T08:47:12","modified_gmt":"2022-06-22T12:47:12","slug":"veteran-saves-fellow-veteran-from-deadly-heart-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2021\/05\/veteran-saves-fellow-veteran-from-deadly-heart-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"Veteran Saves Fellow Veteran from Deadly Heart Attack"},"content":{"rendered":"

Army veteran James Whalen, 70, of Bristol is extra thankful this Memorial Day for his fellow veterans, especially Army Vet turned paramedic Taylor Gonzalez, 31, who helped save him from a life-threatening heart attack.<\/p>\n

On the morning of May 22, Whalen was once again placing American flags on the graves of fallen soldiers in advance of the Memorial Day holiday with his veteran friends. Whalen has annually performed this honor since 1971 after serving in Vietnam.<\/p>\n

He then headed to the pool for some afternoon exercise. \u201cI got in the pool, and could tell I just didn\u2019t have my usual energy,\u201d reports Whalen who started to feel extremely short of breath post-swim.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said to the lifeguard \u2018I can\u2019t breathe\u2019 and the lifeguard team quickly called the ambulance,\u201d recounts Whalen. \u201cI suddenly passed out from my heart attack. When I woke up, all I remember is being put on a stretcher, and the EMT shouting \u2018we\u2019re going to UConn!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Paramedic Taylor Gonzalez, 31, of Bristol EMS, served in the U.S. Army from 2007-2013 including in Iraq.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gonzalez, who served in the Army infantry including in Iraq and a Bristol EMS paramedic responding to Whalen\u2019s cardiac arrest, recalls his shouting of the same message.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe headed to UConn because that\u2019s the closest Cardiac Catheterization Lab best equipped to deal with and open up the type of serious STEMI heart attack blockage our 12-lead electrocardiogram on the scene showed Mr. Whalen was experiencing.\u201d<\/p>\n

A STEMI (ST-elevation myocardial infarction) is the most life-threatening heart attack. It occurs when blood flow to a portion of the heart is completely blocked. Unless the blockage is removed quickly, the patient\u2019s heart muscle begins to die, and their health and life are in serious danger.\u00a0 UConn Health\u2019s Emergency Department and its Calhoun Cardiology Center are known for their fast and lifesaving care of heart attack patients, especially those experiencing STEMI.<\/p>\n

Gonzalez added: \u201cIn the middle of my care of Mr. Whalen, my colleague kept him talking. She asked him to tell us about himself. He replied \u2018I\u2019m a veteran\u2019 and she informed him \u2018Well the EMT working on you right now is a veteran too!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSaving the life of a fellow veteran was quite surreal,\u201d says Gonzalez. \u201cI never thought I would ever be doing that.\u201d Gonzalez was inspired to enter the health care field and become an EMT\/paramedic five years ago following his experience in Iraq.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Bristol EMS ambulance team, in addition to Gonzalez, included Rachel Guillemette, Boblee Bruce and Jessica Caccomo.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was a team effort saving Whalen\u2019s life. Lifeguards initially performed CPR and used a life-saving AED to shock Whalen\u2019s unresponsive heart back to beating. But Whalen\u2019s heart stopped again and EMS shocked him again to return his pulse. The Bristol EMS ambulance team, in addition to Gonzalez, was Rachel Guillemette, Boblee Bruce and Jessica Caccomo.<\/p>\n

From the pool the EMS crew radioed in advance UConn John Dempsey Hospital of the STEMI patient alert. Once Whalen arrived to Emergency Department the Cath Lab team was already activated and awaiting to open up his blocked heart arteries. They placed a few cardiac stents to restore healthy blood flow back to his heart, and ensure his survival.<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks to UConn Health here I am,\u201d says Whalen. \u201cI would recommend UConn to everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Whalen learned it was Gonzalez, a fellow Army infantry veteran who was instrumental in saving his life he was overcome with emotion sharing: \u201cIt really makes me feel happy. This is good news to me. He\u2019s the guy who saved my life!\u201d<\/p>\n

Whalen\u2019s message to others this Memorial Day: \u201cKeep thanking the veterans.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Taylor Gonzalez, Bristol EMS.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And Gonzalez\u2019s message: \u201cMemorial Day is about the men and women that died, and remembering those who fell for our country,\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a heartwarming Memorial Day story,\u201d shared Dr. Michael Azrin, director of Cardiac Catheterization and Interventional Cardiology at UConn Health, who successfully opened up Whalen\u2019s heart blockages with his team of doctors and nurses. \u201cUConn Health is on standby 24\/7 to offer patients lifesaving heart attack care and treatments at a moment\u2019s notice.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Today, hospital care starts in the street,\u201d shared Peter Canning, EMS Coordinator for UConn John Dempsey Hospital. \u201cThanks to great practitioners like Taylor Gonzalez and his partners at Bristol EMS, we have a better chance of providing outstanding outcomes once the patients come through our hospital door.”<\/p>\n

Three days after his heart attack Whalen walked out of UConn John Dempsey Hospital.<\/p>\n

While he plans to be resting at home this Memorial Day, his fellow veteran friends will be handing out their annual red poppies in the town of Thomaston outside Adams Hometown Markets on Saturday, May 29. Wearing a red poppy symbolizes the honoring of fallen soldiers and support for living veterans.<\/p>\n

Whalen concludes: \u201cThis heart attack happened on my late Mother\u2019s birthday. Mother sure was looking over me too.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A heartwarming Memorial Day story of an Army Veteran turned paramedic saving another Army Veteran’s life from the most dangerous type of heart attack. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":173493,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1969,1868,179],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[1873],"class_list":["post-173485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cardiology","category-meds","category-uconn-health","series-heart-health","series-patient-perspective"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-31 10:19:20","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173485"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":173498,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173485\/revisions\/173498"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/173493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173485"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=173485"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=173485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}