A trio of nurses from the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC) in Iowa City jumped into action to save the life of an Iowa man in the hospital this summer. He had just taken his wife on a date when he collapsed without warning. The quick intervention of off-duty nurses saved his life.
A Friday afternoon in June, Ervin Imm and his wife Sherry were about to make their way onto a walkway between the hospital and a parking lot when Ervin suddenly collapsed. He would I will say later he had no warning: “I had no chest pain and I didn’t feel dizzy or unbalanced. I was just walking with my wife, and then all of a sudden I found myself on the ground .I had no indication that I was out of shape.” feel good.”
When Imm collapsed, Julie Liebe and Kelsey DeWeese responded immediately. Liebe and DeWeese had just finished their shifts in hospital operating rooms when they heard Imm fall. Liebe checked Imm’s pulse. He was unresponsive and turning blue. Liebe and DeWeese then began chest compressions.
Courtney Heid, a stem cell transplant nurse who was also off-duty, then arrived on the scene. She alerted security guards of the emergency and rushed to retrieve an automatic external defibrillator (AED). Together, Heid, Liebe and DeWeese very quickly allowed Imm to react and speak.
According to University of Iowa Hospitals and ClinicsLiebe was out at 3:30 p.m. Nine minutes later, she, Heid and DeWeese had used the AED to administer the shock that saved Imm’s life.
Imm, 84 years old, is doing well. After being rushed to the emergency room that June afternoon, he was admitted to UIHC. He would have a device implanted that detects arrhythmias and delivers shocks when needed.
Imm says he is “very grateful that the nurses were competent and had the skills to bring me back. The entire hospital staff took care of me. I have nothing but praise for them all.”
There are a ton of healthcare heroes in Iowa and Julie Liebe, Kelsey DeWeese and Courtney Heid (left to right below) are definitely three of them.
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