Air Force Veteran and Wife Grateful to VA and Indianapolis ER team’s Lifesaving Response

As the vehicle comes to an abrupt stop, the driver's door flies open. Frantically exiting the car is Judy Dunlap, who yells, "Heart attack! Heart attack, in the car, come now!" as she runs toward the ER door.  

Earlier in the morning on the north side of Indianapolis, Judy’s husband Wayne, an Air Force Captain in the 1960s, was in the kitchen making vegetable soup when he called out, "Judy, come here!"  

As she entered the kitchen, Judy saw her husband was in trouble, clutching his chest in a chair at the breakfast bar.  Asking his pain level, he replied, “Six,” and asked her to take him to the ER at the Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center. 

"We have come to trust the VA because they have treated him so well," said Judy. “I asked him several times if we should call an ambulance, but he was adamant - he wanted me to take him to Roudebush VAMC ER.”

As she zoomed through the city trying to make it to the hospital, Wayne's condition was worsening by the minute. During the drive, Judy conversed with Wayne to check on his status. When mere moments away, she glanced over and saw his body had gone limp, he wasn’t responding and his mouth grotesquely distorted.

Panic was beginning to set in. They were so close. Judy started to fear getting into a wreck. She had only one recourse: yell. "Wayne, stay with me! Stay with me!" 

Slamming on her horn as she approached the main entrance of the hospital, Judy jerked the car into park and exited as fast as she could to get help. Within seconds of yelling outside the car for help, it arrived.

“There were 12 maybe 15 people, they all came running outside with a gurney and equipment.” Judy said. “It’s ingrained in me from our visits here and I just yelled, “Dunlap!” and his last four and they heard me and just went to work.”

Recalling the scene, Judy breathlessly described how amazed she was by how fast the ER team got Wayne out of the vehicle and began chest compressions while wheeling him into the hospital. 

While attending to her patients in the ER, Dr. Sharmistha Dev, Acting Deputy Chief, Roudebush VAMC Emergency Department, heard a scuttle among the nurses and police officers. It was about a car outside that concerned them. Running toward the car with the ER team, she saw a man slumped over in the front seat, unresponsive. The team opened the car door, a technician checked for a pulse and discovered the man no longer had one. 

Removing his lifeless body from the vehicle, multiple team members lifted and placed him onto the stretcher.  While wheeling him inside, a medical tech immediately began chest compressions.  At 12:27 pm, the ER initiated a "Code Blue."

Once in a room, the team continued Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) procedures, with Dev guiding her team during the code.  Eric Davis and other nurses rotated chest compressions. India Petty, RN, and Steve Bishop, RN, established IVs within 30 seconds of the patient entering the room. Dev directed the pharmacist, Cole Smith, to begin pulling the drugs. Another nurse, Kara Near, was tasked with taking records and timekeeping. 

An anesthesiologist resident intubated Wayne as the respiratory therapist operated the air balloon breathing mask. As Dev monitored the pulse via the femoral artery, she observed Sam Tabor, RN, Regan Wadsworth, RN, and Carol Dickenson, HT, work to get Wayne resuscitated.

Detecting Dunlap was in ventricular fibrillation, Dev gave the call for shock at 12:33 pm. The team continued to administer CPR and drugs. Nine minutes after the code was initiated, at 12:36 p.m. the ER team is rewarded with a pulse.

 Standing just outside, Judy is overcome with emotion as a wave of happy noises erupts from the room and washes over her.  It was the sound of joy and immense relief.

"My nurses are very skilled and know their roles, and I am very proud of them."  Dev said. 

Celebrations in cases like this very quickly transition to the important work of stabilization. Dunlap needed to transfer to the ICU and ultimately, cardiac care where he underwent surgery to receive a stent. 

Several days after the surgery, the hospital planned to remove the breathing tube and asked Judy to be present as a calming influence in case he experienced any stress. As the tube was removed Wayne opened his eyes, looked at his wife, and said, "I see you." 

Amazed, Judy exclaimed, "You see me?" 

Nodding yes, Wayne responded, "I love you."  

"You could have knocked me over with a feather.” Judy said. “It was an answered prayer. My prayers, my whole church’s prayers." 

Wayne, who is very analytical, found it strange that he could not remember anything about that day, such as cooking vegetable soup, talking with his wife, or riding to the hospital. Wayne will undergo physical and occupational therapy at a rehabilitation facility for many weeks. After being hospitalized for three weeks, he is ready to return home and to his passion, playing trumpet. He is the organizing president of the city of Carmel Symphony and is determined to work hard to attend the 50th anniversary ceremony next year.

The Dunlaps both expressed their desire to thank everybody at the R.L. Roudebush Medical Center for their dedication to their profession and for their determination in responding to Wayne.  

“I wouldn’t be here without them. They saved my life.”