By Megan Quinn
The Broomfield Enterprise
BROOMFIELD, Colo. — After more than 20 years of rushing to other people’s aid, Chuck Crow found himself on the other end of a 911 call.
Crow, an engineer and former firefighter and emergency medical technician with Arvada Fire Protection District, was coming back from a hiking trip in October when he started to have chest pains. Instead of waiting for the painful feeling to go away, he immediately pulled into a Broomfield gas station and called 911.
Minutes later, rescuers came to his aid.
Crow, a career firefighter who has responded to countless heart attacks in his career, had just been saved by fellow firefighters.
Thursday, Crow got a chance to thank the members of the North Metro Fire Rescue District who responded to his call for help. He met North Metro Capt. Jim Prochazka and firefighters Joe Cardiel and James McWilliams at Station 61 on Midway Boulevard, just a block away from where he had his heart attack.
It was the first time Crow had seen them since he was in the hospital.
“I really, really wanted to see these guys so bad. It has been on my mind for months,” said Crow, who is now back on the job with no damage to his heart.
Firefighters from both districts said they were glad to see each others’ smiling faces in a relaxed atmosphere instead of in the back of an ambulance.
Cardiel was quick to point out that Crow survived because he recognized the signs of a heart attack and immediately called for help.
“Every second counts,” he said. “His quick recognition really helped save his life.”
North Metro firefighters urge the public to call 911 immediately if someone is suspected of having a heart attack, even if it’s not a “for sure” scenario, Prochazka said.
Heart attack victims might sustain greater heart damage or risk higher mortality rates the longer they wait for treatment, he said.
“If it’s just indigestion or something, that’s fine. People say they don’t want to bother us if they aren’t sure, but it’s never, never a bother. We’d rather it be nothing,” he said.
According to the American Heart Association, heart disease is the No. 1 cause of death in the United States, killing more than 375,000 people a year.
Heart attacks and other cardiac emergencies, such as serious side effects from abnormal heart rhythm, are not always fatal. Nonetheless, they are common reasons for people to call 911.
Last year, North Metro responded to about 520 heart-related emergency calls, including Crow’s heart attack, said spokeswoman Sara Farris.
Crow said it was a surreal experience to be rescued by people in his own field, but it was even more surreal to have a heart attack in the first place. He was only 48, and later found out his heart problems were hereditary.
Since being back on duty, Crow said he now has an added layer of empathy when he responds to emergency calls that involve heart problems.
“It’s an eerie feeling to know what they’re going through when they have a heart attack,” he said. “If it has not happened to you, the feeling is indescribable.”
Many firefighters face many stressful situations that can lead to heart attacks, even though firefighters tend to be physically fit, said Deanna Harrington, a spokeswoman for Arvada Fire. Heart attack is the leading cause of death for firefighters, according to the U.S. Fire Administration. Researchers have listed factors such as high stress, irregular sleep patterns and exposure to toxins from fires as possible contributors to heart disease.
Both Arvada Fire and North Metro have specific regulations to keep firefighters healthy.
Firefighters must undergo a physical once a year, including a chest X-ray and a cholesterol test, Farris said.
Firefighters take the tests seriously, and sometimes even compete with each other to see who comes out the healthiest, she said.
Yet that exam doesn’t always catch every potential health problem, she said.
“Sometimes, there are things that just don’t show up in regular screenings,” she said.
North Metro is in the process of adding more specialized components to its physicals, such as electrocardiograms, but no date has been set for when those tests might be included.
North Metro recently received a mill levy increase, which could be used for future health needs, too. Another future plan is to overhaul the alarm system used to alert on-duty firefighters of an emergency. A more modern alarm system would rely on a less-jarring audio feature to wake sleeping firefighters and reduce stress, Farris said.
At Arvada Fire, the department has taken Crow’s surprise medical problems to heart in a big way.
Since his heart attack, Arvada Fire has signed up all of its employees for in-depth heart health tests at Porter Hospital. The tests do an in-depth look at plaque in the arteries, predict the risk for heart attack and provide suggestions for diet and exercise regimens, Harrington said.
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(c)2015 the Broomfield Enterprise (Broomfield, Colo.)
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