Health Beat - Summer 2020 - 10

A Survivor's
Story
When Rocio Burr
suffered a cardiac
arrest, she and
her family turned
to SRHC for quick
treatment and
expert rehabilitation
By Meghan Klaassen

A Run Ends in Collapse
Rocio and Chad went for a jog
that morning. After running

10

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a couple of miles together,
the two parted ways as Rocio
turned home and Chad ran
ahead. Ready to return home,
Chad jogged past a small crowd
of people surrounding a woman
lying in the grass. He immediately recognized his wife.
"Chad was a police officer
for 20 years," Rocio says. "He's
seen a lot and he said my body
was shutting down."
Chad performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
on his wife until the paramedics arrived and rushed her
to the Emergency Department
at Salina Regional Health
Center. Upon arrival, Rocio
experienced a particular type
of seizure that signaled to physicians that there was swelling in her brain due to a lack
of oxygen.

Physicians responded by
putting Rocio in a hypothermic
state, using a temperature management system called Arctic
Sun, a treatment for postcardiac arrest patients.
Christan Butler, RN, chest
pain program coordinator at
Salina Regional Health Center,
says this treatment is "helpful
for those patients who are not
responsive after a successful
resuscitation of cardiac arrest.
The hope is that by lowering the
body's temperature, it reduces
the brain injury from lack of oxygen to the brain. The lowered
temperature may also lessen
inflammation in the brain."
Rocio was later admitted
to the intensive care unit at
Salina Regional Health Center
with a 5 percent chance of survival. Physicians kept her under

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Rocio Burr and
her husband,
Chad, marvel
when they reflect
on the events following the
Saturday morning of August 3,
2019, when Rocio suffered a
cardiac arrest during a jog.
"My body knows I'm here.
My mind sometimes doesn't
accept the fact that I'm here,"
says Rocio, 44, six months
after a nearly monthlong hospital stay following her cardiac arrest.
The couple sees Rocio's
near-death experience as an
opportunity to create awareness of the importance of quick
and timely cardiac care.
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Health Beat - Summer 2020

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