The Windham Fire Department honored an Ohio State Highway Patrolman Dec. 7 for his contributions toward saving a teen’s life last summer on the Ohio Turnpike.
A news release from the Windham fire chief described the incident. On July 14, the WFD received a call about a teen who was experiencing a severe allergic reaction. Antwon Watson, 16, was struggling to breathe and turning blue.
Watson, who suffers from severe peanut allergies, had unwittingly eaten a protein bar that contained peanut oil. He did not have an EpiPen with him as he traveled with his family from West Virginia to Michigan for a family reunion later that day.
Windham firefighter/paramedic Jeffrey Scott, a retired flight paramedic with over 38 years in fire/EMS, responded to the call with his EMS partner, Chris Pekarek. Pekarek is qualified both as a firefighter and EMT-Advanced.
However, getting to the patient on the Ohio Turnpike presented a problem. Scott and Pekarekt knew they could not directly reach Watson because the vehicle he was in was on the westbound side of the turnpike.
The would-be rescuers’ only option was to enter the Bryant Road Ohio Turnpike service vehicle entrance, travel 2.5 miles east, take a risky cross-over point and then come back six miles to the west.
Reaching the patient would not only take at least 10 minutes, but would also expose Scott and Pekarek to a “huge risk given high speed traffic,” Windham Fire Chief Nick Bushek said in the release.
As they raced to the location, Scott and Pekarek plotted their critical care plan. Then luck — and quick thinking by Ohio State Highway Patrol Trooper Jose Molina Mendez — intervened.
While entering the turnpike, Scott and Pekarek saw a State Highway Patrol cruiser traveling quickly toward them. Within seconds, the vehicle was directly beside them, and they learned Mendez already had Watson in his vehicle.
He’d already been on scene and could tell that the boy’s airways were starting to swell shut. Mendez knew where the Windham crew would likely enter the turnpike and had made his own judgment call.
His quick thinking cut nearly eight minutes off Scott’s and Pekarek’s journey, time that was critical as Watson’s airways were quickly closing. He waved the Windham crew over at the Bryant Road access point, where they moved him into the ambulance.
Performing an immediate ABC (airway breathing circulation) assessment, Scott noted the teen’s physical state: noisy, labored, wheezy breathing, along with severe neck and facial swelling.
“Because Lt. Scott knew the time it takes to draw up epi, he already pre-planned to have Chris administer the EMT-Advanced drug box pre-dosed EpiPen, which shaved off nearly two minutes from the traditional ‘draw up’ and admin of normal epi,” Bushek said in the release.
As Scott continued his assessment, both he and Pekarek hooked Watson up to IV lines containing Benadryl and Solu-Medrol, set him up with a 12-lead EKG and continuously monitored his vital signs.
Scott had also prepped his critical airway equipment, preparing to take over Watson’s airway at any moment during treatment, including possibly performing a surgical airway procedure.
As the teen was starting to experience modest relief, Scott and Pekarek raced for the closest medical center, which happened to be in Warren, 15 minutes away.
While en route, Scott prepped an epi-drip in case Watson didn’t continue to improve.
“Prepping for the worst is better than scrambling and only wasting precious seconds and time. Here, every second had value, and Lt. Scott’s experience preserved those seconds for this young patient,” Bushek said.
Scott and Pekarek administered a second set of injections as the youth’s condition improved. Two minutes before even reaching the emergency room, his noisy breathing had subsided.
“While the young teen was not out of the woods, the emergency department at Warren was quite surprised by the intensity and quality of care that was provided (they made a point to tell the crew that right in the ER), including how much was done, and the fact an Epi-drip was even prepped and ready to go, as Lt. Scott handed it off to them just in case they needed it too, if he turned for the worse again,” Bushek said in the release.
Mendez’s recognition ceremony was held at the Ohio State Highway Patrol Hiram Post on Dec. 7, with the teen and his family in attendance. The WFD’s command staff nominated Scott and Pekarek for an award, which is anticipated to be bestowed next summer.
Wendy DiAlesandro is a former Record Publishing Co. reporter and contributing writer for The Portager.