During football practice in Fort Myers, Florida, 17-year-old Zach Martin collapsed. His body temperature hit 107 degrees, and when the ambulance arrived on the scene, he was unresponsive and moaning, according to his mother Laurie Giordano. "I just remember the panic that was setting in in that moment," Giordano said.
"They were just assessing him and then loading him up." But what Giordano didn't know is that when a patient is overheated , the national recommendation is not to load the patient and rush them to the hospital. It's a technique called "Cool First, Transport Second.
" In that process, a patient's body temperature is brought back down before they are transported to the hospital. It can be lifesaving. However, just 11 states require ambulance services to follow that protocol.
Zach died from organ failure 11 days after his collapse. Giordano believes that her "gentle and kind and funny" son could have survived if "Cool First, Transport Second" had been followed. "As a mother, that first heartbeat is really important to hear on the sonogram," Giordano said.
"I heard his last heartbeat too." What is "Cool First, Treat Second?" Matt Willens is a paramedic who practices "Cool First, Transport Second" when treating a patient who is experiencing extreme heat illness. The process starts with ice.
Then, the patient is loaded into a bag. Ice and water are poured in, and the bag is zipped, with one arm hanging out so Willens can monitor the patient's blood pressure. This impro.