Waxahachie teen’s CPR efforts help save his grandfather

On Dec. 9, a Waxahachie teen and five first responders of Ellis County received medical director’s lifesaving awards for their combined efforts in saving the life of Doug Vandivier.

Dr. Chad Sumrall, medical director for American Medical Response Ellis County and the Waxahachie Fire Department, presented the awards to Waxahachie firefighters Jonathan Laws, Kameran Miller and Seth Corder, alongside AMR responders Priscilla Poyner and Sean Mccumber. 2022 Waxahachie High School graduate Hayden Wochele, 18, grandson of Doug, also received an award and the AMR Challenge Coin because it was his initial CPR compressions that played a pivotal role in saving his grandfather’s life.

“That action alone is why we’re here,” Sumrall said. “Had that not happened and happened effectively, the outcome would have been very different.”

After getting into bed Aug. 20, Cindy Vandivier heard her husband, Doug, make a strange noise. Trying to check on him, she nudged him and received no response. She quickly checked his pulse and felt for his breath. Finding neither, she jumped from her bed screaming for her daughter, Jaime Wochele.

Jaime’s son, Hayden, woke from a “dead sleep” and rushed into the room. Upon finding his grandfather without a heartbeat, he began performing chest compressions while his grandma and mom continued to scream, and his father, Marc, called 911.

“I said, ‘His heart stopped,’ and immediately, he assessed his grandfather and started compressions,” Cindy said.

“We didn’t have to do anything; he just swung into action and didn’t stop,” Jaime said.

Hayden continued to provide compressions even when instructed to check for a pulse by emergency dispatchers. Sumrall explained how compressions can be an exhausting process, but Hayden said his adrenaline kept him going because “every second counts” in situations like this one.

A few minutes later, Waxahachie firefighters arrived on the scene. It was only then that Hayden stopped providing compressions, allowing Laws, Miller and Corder to take over. They delivered a shock to Doug, trying to restart his heart.

AMR medics Poyner and Mccumber arrived on the scene next, with Poyner taking over compressions, which she continued even as they brought him to the ambulance. Three more shocks were given to Doug before his heart began to beat.

Cindy never stopped shouting for the responders to not give up on her husband.

On the way to the hospital, Doug woke up fighting the medics in the back of the ambulance.

“We don’t normally encourage combative behavior in our patients, but in this case, it was actually a sign of a miracle,” Sumrall said.

Bystander CPR, which Hayden provided for his grandfather, can be critical to survival from cardiac arrest and can double chances of survival, according to the American Heart Association. It keeps the blood flowing throughout the body and, most importantly, to the brain and the lungs.

Hayden learned CPR in one of his classes at WHS. At the time, he thought it was “dumb,” and he would never use it. But, when the time came, he did not hesitate to put his knowledge to use.

“It’s probably the most important thing I learned there,” Hayden said. “You never think it’s something you’re actually going to have to apply to a real-life situation. But that’s what happened to me, and I immediately fell back onto what I had learned. While it was limited, it still proved to be valuable.”

After the awards were presented Dec. 9, Doug personally shook hands with each first responder whose actions saved his life, and his family could not stop expressing their gratitude.

To learn more about CPR or to find a training course, visit https://cpr.heart.org/en/resources/what-is-cpr.

Originally published December 19, 2022 - https://www.waxahachiesun.com/news/local/waxahachie-teen-s-cpr-efforts-help-save-his-grandfather/article_0c584918-7ffd-11ed-89ea-5bd990fc0e69.html