Citizens Step in to Save Life of Wauwatosa Man

A Fond du Lac woman and three other unidentified citizens almost certainly saved the life of a 57-year-old Wauwatosa man when they stopped to render aid Wednesday as he sat in his wheelchair, in the throes of cardiac arrest, in the middle of the city's busiest street.

Pamela Loehr of Fond du Lac was driving on North Mayfair Road with her aunt late that afternoon and was waiting to make a left turn onto West Center Street to visit Maxfield's Pancake House, 2727 N. Mayfair Rd.

"We were in the left-turn lane, and a few cars in front of me went, but when I got to the front there was this gentleman in a wheelchair," Loehr said. "I said to my aunt, 'I think there's something wrong.'

"I stopped and got out, and another man stopped across the street and ran over. He was the one who called 911."

This isn't training

Loehr, a retired corrections officer, had gotten professional CPR training in her job — and she needed it now.

"He wasn't breathing and he had no pulse," she said. "He was a very big man, easily 300-and-some pounds. Fortunately, two other women stopped, too, and it took all four of us to get him out of the wheelchair and onto the ground.

"We switched off doing CPR, me and another woman," Loehr said. "It was very hard. When you actually have to do it, it's much harder than in training. And because he was so big — well, it was just a lot of work."

When paramedics arrived to take over, the man still had no pulse. Loehr and the other woman had been his beating heart for several minutes.

The paramedics finally did get a pulse and rushed the man to Froedtert Hospital. A officer recovered the man's wheelchair and a small bag of  belongings, hoping to identify him. He did, but he had no information on any family members.

The officer then went to Froedtert to see if he could speak to the victim. He was told that the man's life was still in dire jeopardy.

The officer returned to Froedtert on Thursday to check in. Medical staff told him the man's life had been saved.

Beating the odds

According to Wauwatosa Assistant Fire Chief Jim Case, even with modern emergency response systems, nationally, only 10 percent of cardiac arrest victims survive. This man was decidedly in the fortunate minority, he said.

"All the studies show that the earlier the CPR is started and the 911 call is made, the greater the likelihood of survival," he said. "And the stats show that when there's an early bystander response, that helps immensely.

"Anyone who's willing to stop — it's a life-saver."

Case couldn't say without question of doubt that Loehr and the others' actions had saved this man's life, but in all likelihood, they had. Without a heartbeat and not breathing, no one can survive long.

"Our average response time from the 911 call to when we arrive is four to five minutes," Case said. "I think one of the medical units was on the road at the time, so it could have been in the four-minute or less range."

Loehr was the only one of the citizen-Samaritans who stayed on the scene after the incident to give an account to police. The others, she said, got back in their cars and went on their ways. After giving her statement, so did she.

Asked if she had heard anything since, Loehr said she had not. Told that the man had survived, she said, "Wow, that's great! That's really good to know."