Kiwanis donation saves life

As he worked frantically to clear his son’s airway, Paul Winterscheidt listened for the sound of a siren.

Elliot, 2, had snagged a grape from the table and was choking on it. Abdominal thrusts didn’t dislodge the fruit, and the boy ended up passing out.

“You learn to do that, the Heimlich maneuver,” Winterscheidt said. “When it’s not working you feel worse. You just feel helpless.

“There’s nothing you can do to stop what’s going on.”

He estimated it took three minutes for Superior firefighters to get to the house, closely followed by paramedics. They were, he said, “the longest couple minutes of my life.”

When firefighter Jeremiah Glonek entered the home, the adrenaline level was high.

“There’s nothing more stressful than a pediatric call, whether it’s a pediatric not breathing like this or a pulseless non-breathing,” said Battalion Chief Scott Gordon with the Superior Fire Department.

But Glonek had one less thing to worry about. Instead of searching for equipment small enough to use on a 2-year-old, he grabbed the pediatric jump bag. Inside, child-sized items were sorted into color-coded bags, ready for use.

“Kid calls can be stressful, you know. Your stress level goes up,” Glonek said. “Having these bags reduces that a lot because you can open the bag, each one is labeled for age, it makes it so much easier and quicker for us …. So we can concentrate on the kid and do what we need to do.”

He fit a non-rebreather mask — a mask with an oxygen bottle attached — over Elliot’s face. The paramedics were not far behind. As the ambulance rushed the boy toward St. Luke’s Hospital, Glonek said, the grape finally came out.

“I was relieved that they had that equipment,” said Winterscheidt, a former paramedic. “I understand how important it is for them to have that … it makes a difference.”

The pediatric jump bags were gifted to the Superior Fire Department last October by the Superior Kiwanis Club. In addition, the service club provided bags full of child-sized equipment to rescue units in Gordon, Wascott and Hawthorne. The club donated $1,300 for the purchase of the bags and equipment.

“It’s pretty cool knowing that they were able to get use out of them this fast,” said Kiwanis member Greg Mattson. “It’s pretty exciting.”

“It’s one of those deals you hope never happens, but thankfully the stuff was there,” said club President Jerry Choate. “We had the opportunity to donate.”

Club secretary/treasurer Barb Fisher said it was “awesome” to see the equipment was being used and making an impact.

Mattson said it was gratifying to hand the bags over to firefighters last fall.

“But now it gives you kind of a warm feeling knowing they worked already,” he said. “It’s pretty neat.”

Elliot went from St. Luke’s to the pediatric ICU at St. Mary’s Hospital. A day later, Winterscheidt said, he was able to go home. The child had no injuries, no aftereffects from the June incident. Tuesday, he peered at members of the press and Kiwanis club shyly while clutching a yellow blanket. Eventually, he left his father’s lap to show them his 2-week-old sister, Sidney, and get a close-up view of a fire truck.

Winterscheidt said he appreciated what the firefighters and paramedics did for his son.

“It made me grateful to live in the city of Superior and have help so close,” he said. “I didn’t have to wait very long for them to get there. A couple minutes, the paramedics were there. The longest couple minutes of my life. It makes a big difference to have that close, very close.”

The pediatric jump bags aren’t used often. To date, Gordon said, they have been used for about 10 calls — an average of one per month. But when they are needed, the bags, stocked and maintained by medical officer Les Luder, make a difference.

“It’s going to save seconds in getting equipment and in the long run it’s going to save kids’ lives and it’s going to be a lot less stress,” Gordon said.

Seeing the impact such a tool can make on the work they do has inspired the battalion chief to seek out other little-used items that would be beneficial to the department. During a bridge rescue training earlier this month, Gordon learned of one such tool — a multiple position device that could save time and manpower during bridge or confined space rescues. He hopes to seek grants or donations from local businesses to purchase some of the devices.

As for the Kiwanis Club, they will continue to focus on meeting the needs of children. The group plans to run a craft tent for children at the Lake Superior Dragon Boat Festival this weekend. Anyone interested in learning more about the club is invited to join them for their weekly meetings, which take place at noon on Thursdays at the Shack or visit www.superiorkiwanis.org.

Tags: news, health, family, superior