TMH Patient Reunites with Team That Saved His Life Clifford Daugherty is Back on the Golf Course after Cardiac Arrest by Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare
Sunday, March 6, 2022, was shaping up to be a great day on the golf course in Madison County for Clifford Daugherty. Clifford, 73, and his wife Kathy are snowbirds from Iowa. They spend part of their year in North Florida, living in their RV, enjoying the sunshine and golfing. “I was told that Cliff had hit his best shot ever that day,” Kathy said. “His drive had gone the farthest it had ever gone.” What looked like a phenomenal day of golf quickly changed for Clifford. He proceeded to hit three balls right into the water, and then he collapsed. Kathy was at their RV when she was told she needed to get to the eighth hole at Madison Golf & Country Club as quickly as possible. She began driving her golf cart, frantically looking for her husband. She saw the ninth hole but couldn’t seem to find the eighth quick enough. She finally made it to Clifford and saw that he was in serious trouble. Someone on the golf course immediately called 911, and when Madison County Emergency Services showed up, they began CPR. They rushed Clifford to Madison County Memorial Hospital, where the doctors realized he needed more advanced heart care and put him on a Survival Flight to Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare (TMH). Clifford had experienced cardiac arrest, which occurs when the heart malfunctions and abruptly stops beating. More than 357,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur each year in the United States, and nearly 90 percent of them are fatal, according to the American Heart Association. Saving Clifford was a race against time. While assessing Clifford, the heart team at TMH discovered his coronary artery had a tight blockage. The heart team had to insert a stent in his blocked vessel to open it and restore blood flow to the heart. Clifford would also undergo surgery to implant an Impella® heart pump. The Impella® heart pump is a device that is temporarily placed into the ventricle of the heart for patients who are experiencing shock due to a heart attack.
The pump supports the patient’s weakened heart by allowing it to rest while keeping blood flowing to the rest of the body. Once the heart is pumping properly, without assistance from the pump, the device is removed. Inserting the Impella® benefits the patient because doctors don’t have to open the heart to insert the device. Instead, a minor incision is made in the leg or chest artery to insert the device and move it up the artery until it reaches the heart. The procedure is minimally invasive, compared to open heart surgery, allowing patients to experience fewer complications and recover more quickly. Clifford had his heart pump for a day while recovering at TMH. Once the pump is removed, the heart has a better chance to fully recover. From the Survival Flight helicopter team, which is based at TMH, to the heart team that treated Clifford, an interdisciplinary team worked to coordinate his care and recovery.
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28 July–August 2022 TALLAHASSEEMAGA ZINE.COM