ATTENTION COACHES!

Want to let everyone know your team’s schedule for the season? Want to let everyone know of your players’ successes and milestones? SEND was promptly set up for catheterization and potential placement of a couple of stents. It turns out the problem was worse than expected. Neil had three blockages and needed open heart surgery.

Since the surgery seven years ago, Neil has been under the regular care of his cardiologist in north Jersey. More recently, Neil’s blood pressure started to rise, and the couple figured it was due to stress at work. Neil also noticed that he became increasingly fatigued and couldn’t finish his workout routines.

Again, the regular cardiac assessments came back without any issues. In retrospect, Linda can’t help but wonder if she should have pressed for another cardiac CT scan.

Neil’s retirement from his job in April left him with less stress. With the summer months coming, the couple looked forward to spending time at their shore house in Lavallette. On June 10 at 9 a.m., Linda was upstairs when she heard a strange noise.

“My husband was outside digging a tree,” Linda said. “Apparently, the exertion of digging out a tree is very similar to shoveling snow. People have heart attacks and die.”

According to Linda, Neil felt weak and ready to pass out. He somehow made it into the house and slid himself to the floor. Linda heard a strange sound and came down to find Neil had somehow made it up onto a chair. One look at her husband, and she knew he was in trouble.

Neil told his wife that he couldn’t catch his breath. A call to 911 resulted in an ambulance marked Toms River emergency services arriving within minutes. The dispatcher stayed on the line until she was sure help was there.

Fortunately, the couple’s daughter was staying at a house right up the street and was able to drive her mother to follow the ambulance to Community Medical Center back on the mainland. The reality of the crisis reached a pinnacle when the emergency vehicle came to a halt at the Acme in Ortley Beach.

“As we were rounding the bend on Route 35 to go onto Route 37, we saw them,” said Linda. “The ambulance was there, the Toms River paramedic vehicle and three cop cars.”

Linda immediately knew the situation had become even more dire. As she and her daughter approached the scene, they were directed to head to the hospital. Linda subsequently learned that Neil had coded four times in the ambulance and had been successfully revived by the first responders.

En route to the hospital, Linda recalled the last time she’d been inside Community Medical Center. Two decades had passed since Linda visited a patient, and Linda remembered she was not overly impressed. The memories heightened her concerns about the care her husband would receive. However, Linda’s feelings changed almost immediately.

“This was not the same hospital,” Linda shared. “Everything is brand new, and everyone was incredibly efficient.”

During Neil’s open heart surgery, the couple had the advantage of speaking with their son, a medical resident at the University of Pennsylvania. That time around, they had the luxury of carefully choosing the right medical professional. However, in the current situation, they were faced with a crisis, and when Neil reached the hospital, time was of the essence, leaving no room for extended decision-making.

Linda said the hospital’s top interventional cardiologist, Dr. Mohammed Haris Usman, came to speak with her in a small room. He said the plan was to take Neil for catheterization and possible placement of a couple of stents. Dr. Usman spoke with the couple’s doctor son, who advised Linda to sign the papers for the procedure.

The wait seemed indefinite, but all turned out well in the end. A nurse who had been present in the catheterization lab during the procedure personally guided the family to the ICU waiting room. Linda recounted that the nurse became emotional herself while sharing how resilient Neil had been and highlighting the spirit of teamwork that united them all.

“I cannot sing the praises higher of Toms River Community Hospital,” said Linda. “I read online that the state of the art cath lab was just installed 18-20 months ago with a $2.5 million endowment. That’s what Usman had to work with, and he was also trained at the University of Pennsylvania.”

The frequency with which the doctor and the staff checked on her husband also left Linda impressed. Neil quickly earned the nickname “miracle man” and, fortunately, emerged without any damage to his vital organs.

However, Neil’s hospitalization came with another revelation. He was afflicted with an inherited condition known as familial hyperlipidemia, which had gone undetected until then. Left untreated, this condition can heighten the risk of heart attacks as blood encounters difficulties moving through blood vessels. Thankfully, Neil is now under medication to address this situation.

Linda and Neil are both extremely grateful for the care they received starting with the initial call to 911 and to each and every professional that helped save Neil’s life. However, Linda still wonders what would have happened if the ambulance didn’t respond as quickly as it did. She plans to submit a petition to Toms River authorities asking for round-the-clock coverage on the barrier islands.

Ambulance Coverage

Like most Ocean County towns, volunteers ride the ambulances within their communities. Volunteerism was already experiencing a decline well before COVID struck.

The problem hits home for Toms River Councilman Kevin Geoghegan. He first became a volunteer with Silverton EMS when he was just 16 years old and a paramedic at age 18. Geoghegan is a retired Toms River police sergeant who created the township’s EMS program in 2002.

More than two decades later, Geoghegan said there are fewer paramedic units and paramedics in Ocean County. Meanwhile,

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