Baker
did a quick assessment of Gordon at the nurses’ station. She asked another
PEF nurse, Beth Button, to help her take him to the facility’s emergency
room. They started IVs and administered nitroglycerine, aspirin and oxygen.Gordon’s pulse was increasing to more than 200. His blood pressure soared to 240 over 180.
Others came to assist and at one point, Baker said she thought they were going to need the AED (Automated External Defibrillator).
“Charlie kept telling me he felt something tearing inside,” she said. “I thought he was experiencing an abdominal aneurism. I thought it was going to rupture and he was going to die.
“I said to Beth, ‘Let’s go back to basics. Let’s give him more nitro and get these lines really open.’ ”
An ambulance was called. The facility was locked down. There was no movement, except waiting for the ambulance which was seven miles away. Baker and the other nurses said it felt like an eternity before it arrived.
Once in the ambulance, the paramedics recognized this 46-year-old officer was on death’s doorstep. They called Mercy Flight, and soon the helicopter landed nearby to take Gordon to the Erie County Medical Center (ECMC).
Suddenly, this already dire situation got worse. The helicopter lost an engine and was forced to change course and try to land at the Buffalo International Airport. Then, the other engine lost power just before making an emergency landing.
During all this, the medical rescue team was icing Gordon’s chest to lower his heart rate.
“They called my wife and told her I wasn’t going to live,” Gordon said.
Another ambulance was waiting at the airport and rushed Gordon to ECMC. He was unconscious. When he arrived at the hospital, a cardiologist diagnosed the problem as a rare heart infection called viral myocarditis. It’s an infection that can attack a seemingly healthy person and quickly cause death.
“The cardiologist told me and my wife the quick response and actions at Albion saved my life,” Gordon said.
He was further treated, and back to work five days later.
This story is just one example of the dedication, professionalism and skill of PEF nurses. Baker said several of the nurses and administrators at Albion helped.
“The entire medical staff is excellent,” Baker said. “There have been many occasions where nurses helped other officers and staff in need. They all would do whatever it takes to save a life.
“I wasn’t the sole person in this. There are a lot of heroic things we all do that go unnoticed.”
Gordon surely noticed their work on December 2. It is a day he will always remember. It was two days before his birthday. It was the day he almost died. It was the day he lived to tell his story.
