STARFlight Rescue

Cindy Jaure-Guerrero's Story

On March 29,1987, I was driving a friend home when the weather changed. The roads were icy due to a cold front that had just come in. I was on the road behind San Marcos High School, about two blocks from my apartment when I suddenly lost control of my car, hit a covert, and flipped end over end in my 1979 Berlinetta Camaro. Lucky for me, a police officer was on HWY 123 and witnessed the accident. He came to my aide immediately, but was unable to get me out of my car. He called for the “Jaws of Life” and shortly thereafter, Star Flight was called and took me to the trauma center at Brackenridge Children’s Hospital in Austin. Because they were not able to find any ID, they ID’ed me at 13 years old. I was 24 at the time. Had it not been for the immediate attention of the San Marcos police officer, the paramedics, and the Star Flight crew, I would not be alive today. The extent of my injuries included a broken leg, a broken ankle, a shattered heel, a chipped vertebrae in my back, a collapsed lung, severe cuts on my face, in which I had to have 8 hours of plastic surgery, and loosened teeth (kept in place by the braces I wore) that required my gums to be wired. My doctor said I wouldn’t be released from the hospital in less than three months, but because of the care and the prayers of so many, I was in the hospital a miraculous 17 days. I wasn’t allowed to go home until I could slide from a board on my bed to a wheelchair. AND of course, once I got home, my room was set up like a hospital room with all the hospital equipment. By then I only weighed 87 pounds. This included a body cast and an ankle cast.

My leg, ankle, and back all had pins; and I had to learn to walk again. In 1989, I was pregnant with my first child and my obstetrician was concerned about the weight gain because of my injuries. Two months before my due date, I had a healthy 4lb 9oz preemie, Jenna, who is now a 17 year old senior. Since then, I have had a son, James (12), and a daughter Jacylyn (10). My children are all miracles and I just wanted to thank the flight crew for their immediate care. Although, they said I never lost consciousness, I don’t remember the flight to the hospital, but each year on this day, and in between, I thank God for my life and pray for those who saved me that traumatic day. God Bless You for all the lives you’ve touched.

Sincerely,

Cindy Jaure-Guerrero
A wife, a mother, a teacher, a friend,---a survivor

PS In 1988, while I was in the same children’s hospital to get my leg pin removed, I met one of the flight crew members who remembered me and my accident. I don’t remember his name, but I think of him often.

December 19, 2003
Allison got dressed and ready for school in the usual way, on the phone and in a hurry. This was the last day of school before the Christmas break and an early release day. She hung up the phone and headed for the front door, asking for lunch money as she whizzed by.

Allison is strong in mind as well as body. The phone conversation she had the night before had told her there would be a fight at lunch today. Allie wondered which of her 13-year-old girlfriends would win. Although she is a beautiful girl, Allison herself would not participate in such an activity that would call attention to her.

Later at school, when lunchtime came, a large number of students went to "the cage," a basketball court just outside the cafeteria on the gym side of the building. A few minutes later when the supervising teacher left the area briefly and the coast was clear, the fight was on.

The crowd of students encircled the raging 90 lb. fighters. Allison stood out on the perimeter watching from a safe distance. No one knows exactly why she fell. The doctors say it might have been the emotional stress. Maybe she was pushed from behind. In any case, Allison went into fibrillation. It was a heart attack. Her heartbeat was near 200 beats per minute as she turned blue and fell to the pavement.

Seconds passed. A couple of kids saw Allie fall, and the blood on her face from the impact caused confusion about what had happened. Valuable time passed before any action was taken. Finally, maybe a minute or two after Allison fell, a couple of eighth grade boys picked her up and carried her into the school.

A coach saw them in the hallway, and instructed the boys to put Allison down immediately. The school nurse was summoned. She came to the spot where Allison lay and assessed her situation. Allison was not breathing and had no measurable pulse. Someone called 911. The police officer assigned to the school joined them and they began CPR.

A month prior, the middle school Allison attends had purchased a portable defibrillating device. An Automated External Defibrillator - or AED - as they are called, not because it was in the school's budget, but because earlier this school year a student in another area school had a heart attack at school, and the police officer who responded had used the portable device from his patrol car to re-start the child's heart. Somehow an AED had been afforded at Allie's school.

The coach raced to the nurse's office and brought the portable unit to Allison. When the nurse applied the paddles to Allie's chest, the computer inside the device detected an abnormal heart rhythm, and the digital read-out said a defibrillating shock was indicated. The nurse delivered the shock, and Allie's heartbeat returned to normal.

Paramedics, firefighters, and police arrived in response to the 911-call and took over. Some say 2 &#frac12 minutes, and some say 5 minutes had passed. Allison had no oxygen to her vital organs for too long. During preparation to transport a decision was made to STAR Flight Allie to the hospital. She arrived at Austin Children's Hospital some 42 minutes following the episode at school.

The prognosis was grim. Debbie Stewart, Allison's mom, was called as the emergency crew prepared to transport. "Go to the hospital, we are sending Allison on STAR Flight," was the only message. Debbie arrived just before the helicopter. A social worker called her into a counseling area. "It doesn't look good. We think she might not make it," was the message. About an hour later Debbie was called in to be with Allison. Allie was stabilized, and once the blood was washed off her face it became apparent no outward injury had occurred. A CAT scan had revealed no intrusive brain injury, but the time without oxygen had put Allison in a coma with no way to tell the extent of residual damage.

December 20 Allison's pupils are fixed and dilated. She was still posturing, (a muscular convulsion caused by oxygen deprivation & a sign of brain damage,) as ICU attendants of all kinds watch and test and poke and question. Toward the end of the day Allison is briefly awake. She points to the breathing tube and says, "ouch." That is good enough to get her off life support.

Friends & family, educators and students, and a variety of press and well wishers stream through the ICU waiting area. Debbie doesn't leave Allison's side. A prayer vigil is planned for the next day at the school. Prayer groups across the country are alerted and get down to the business of asking for Allison's life to return to normal.

December 21
During the morning hours Allison shows no progress from the previous evening, but also gets no worse. Debbie hasn't slept since this started. The prayer vigil is scheduled for 2:00.

Later in the day, Allie begins to wake up. She seems crippled at first with her left hand drawn up to her chest much like the posturing she experienced the first day, and her internal organs are not yet functioning since the oxygen deprivation. But, miraculously, Allison begins steady improvement.

"I was driving on Hwy 79 in Hutto that night, listening to the radio about the tornadoes in the area. I turned on to FM 685 and was going about 35 mph. I noticed there was water on the road, but I couldn't tell how deep it was or how far I had gone onto the bridge. I saw a car coming towards me that was in water up to its headlights. I called 911 and was told emergency vehicles were on the way. The woman in the car coming toward me drove up to my car, got out and into my backseat. She told me her car had stalled. We tried to backup and bumped into a man in his car behind me. He said 'We have to get out of here.' We got out of my car holding onto each other and the car. We were going to try to get to the guy behind me when we were both swept off of our feet. I felt my leg hit the guardrail as I was swept over and we lost hold of each other. I kicked off my shoes and breast stroked downstream, spotted a tree and grabbed hold on the downstream side. I held on there for I don't know how long. I kept telling myself that it would be all right. Help was coming. After that I saw flashlights and heard people yelling. They were able to locate me. Tim Wallace with the Pflugerville Fire Department was able to get out into the water and throw me a rope and a life vest. He tied himself to a tree and told me to tie the rope under my arms. After that it was like somebody opened the floodgates. The water was moving faster and rising rapidly. I tried to move my wedged leg out from under me and lost my grip on my tree. Tim let out slack in the rope and I found a bigger tree downstream. The only problem was a tree limb had floated down with me and was sitting on top of the rope causing me to go underwater. I wasn't sure how long I could hold my breath. I thought of drowning and remembered someone had told me how easy it would be. I then thought of my husband. Just then I saw a big bright light and heard the helicopter. It wasn't long before a man with a yellow helmet (Jim Allday, STAR Flight) was telling me to put my arm through the cinch collar. As I was being pulled out of the water, someone saw the rope that connected me to Tim. They lowered me slightly and cut the rope. The next thing I knew, I was being lowered ever so gently to the muddy ground. After they got me to the ambulance, they told me my temperature was 92.7. I don't think I could have held on to that tree any longer."

On July 1^st STAR Flight was dispatched to a reported water rescue call on Lake Austin near Emma Long Park. The initial information was that the victim had a partial leg amputation after being run over by a boat. STAR Flight 2 rigged the aircraft for water rescue and responded to the call. While enroute the flight crew received additional information that the victim was on a boat and no longer in the water. STAR Flight arrived over the scene 14 minutes after being dispatched and was one of the first units on-scene. The patient was found on the swim platform of the boat. STAR Flight and Travis County Fire Control quickly made access to the patient and moved him to the shore. As they began to assess the patient they learned that the people in the boat had performed CPR on him twice. In addition, they had also attempted to place a tourniquet on his leg. It was at this time that the medical crews observed a massive open wound with exposed bone in several places at the left thigh. The patient had once again deteriorated into cardiac arrest and CPR was begun by fire crews assisting STAR Flight. An adult IO needle was placed in the patient’s left leg and Ringers Lactate was infused at a wide open rate. The patient was intubated and ACLS medications were given as well. The patient was placed on a cardiac monitor that initially showed him to be in asystole. After 2 rounds of ACLS drugs the patient began to have a Sinus Tachycardia on the monitor, but without a pulse. A second IV was established and the patient was loaded on a stretcher for transport to Brackenridge. During transport the patient remained in cardiac arrest and CPR and ACLS drugs, as well as wide open IV fluids were continued for the duration of the flight. The patient was delivered to the staff in the ER at Brackenridge in cardiac arrest. It was estimated that the patent had been in arrest for approximately 45 minutes with an estimated blood loss of 5000 cc. The staff at the hospital continued resuscitation for several minutes until the patient regained a pulse and blood pressure. The patient was taken to the OR where they were forced to amputate his right leg due to the severity of the damage. Following the surgery the patient was admitted to the ICU and a hypothermia protocol was initiated. He remained in ICU for 10 days. On the fourth day in the ICU he was extubated and began to talk almost immediately. While in the ICU his neurological status continually improved. The patient was transferred to a floor bed and from there he was discharged to outpatient rehab. He was released from rehab after one week when he was caught having wheelchair races in the parking lot with his friends!

In the end the patient suffered no neurological deficits despite a prolonged period of cardiac arrest. He has since been fitted for a prosthetic leg. This patient’s remarkable recovery is due to the efforts of all the agencies that responded that day; STAR Flight, Travis County Fire Control, Austin Fire Department, A/TCEMS Medical Rescue 16, A/TCEMS Special Operations District Command and the staff at Brackenridge Hospital.