TERRE HAUTE —
Along with cardiopulmonary resuscitation, an automated external defibrillator can save lives, something Vermillion County Sheriff Bob Spence knows first-hand.
A county deputy nearly died early this month from a heart attack, but an AED helped bring back Tim DisPennett, who had a 90-percent blockage in his right coronary artery.
Now Spence is starting a fundraising campaign to purchase enough AEDs for each of the county’s 13 patrol vehicles.
“Each one costs about $1,200 and we are asking the community to help us raise the funding,” Spence said Wednesday at the Clinton Municipal Building, where he recognized citizen heroes who came to DisPennett’s aid.
Spence said deputies often arrive at an emergency scene minutes before other rescue workers.
“Early defibrillation has been proven to save lives so the sooner you get a person shocked the better chance they have to make it,” said Amy Sheppard, nursing care manager for the Emergency Room and Intensive Care Unit at Union Hospital-Clinton. The American Heart Association states that early access to defibrillation could save up to 50 percent of lives lost to sudden cardiac arrest.
Sheppard helped calm DisPennett, who was in a confused state when he arrived at the hospital.
It was about 9 a.m. Aug. 6 and DisPennett, 51, had been running around a track at Sportland Park in Clinton.
“I was running and I don’t remember anything past about a mile and a half. My phone [app] said I did 1.62 miles, but I don’t remember the rest of it after a mile and a half,” DisPennett said Wednesday.
“I remember thinking at a mile and a half I was at 12 minutes, 14 seconds and I needed to be below 12 minutes and wondered what happened, why was I running so slow. The next thing I remember was waking up in the hospital,” DisPennett said.
Spence presented awards to Maxine Spendal, Mary Fornero and Susie Pierce, each of who had been walking around the track and saw the deputy collapse. Rosemary Iacoli, who also received an award, called 911. The first called dropped, she said, but a second called was successful. Iacoli then went back to DisPennett and started CPR.
“It appeared he was having a seizure and then I heard one of the other ladies say he is not breathing and I started CPR,” said Iacoli, who plans to take a CPR refresher course with DisPennett next week.
Iacoli said she and the other ladies were walking on their last lap around the track when the incident occurred.
“I was praying,” Pierce said while CPR was administered.
Clinton City Police Officer Bill MacLaren arrived and then took over administering CPR until Clinton Fire and Rescue arrived. MacLaren, the fire and rescue and the Vermillion County EMS also were given awards by Spence.
“He came back when he was shocked” by an AED, Spence said of DisPennett. “He had literally dropped dead, with no pulse and had turned blue,” Spence said, adding he told DisPennett at the hospital that he was “the only guy I know who got kicked out of Heaven today.”
DisPennett said he took a stress test on Wednesday and will likely return to work next week.
Donations for AEDs can be made to the Vermillion County Sheriff’s Department at P.O. Box 130, Newport, Ind., 47966-0130.
Reporter Howard Greninger can be reached at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com.
Local & Bistate
Related Photos
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Life saver: Vermillion County Sheriff's Deputy Tim DisPennett (right) hugs Rosemary Iacoli after he presented her with a plaque Wednesday in the Clinton Municipal Building. Iacoli saved DisPennett's life on Aug. 6 when she performed CPR on him after he collapsed while jogging. (Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza)
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Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza Donation Project: Vermillion County Sheriff Robert J. Spence holds up the poster for the department's AED Donation Project on Wednesday during a press conference at the Clinton Municipal Building.
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Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza From the bottom of my heart: Vermillion County Sheriff's Deputy Tim DisPennett thanks Rosemary Iacoli as he presents her with a plaque Wednesday at the Clinton Municipal Building. Iacoli revived DisPennett after he collapsed while jogging Aug. 6 in Clinton.
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Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza Sent back: Vermillion County Sheriff Robert J. Spence remembers how he mentioned to deputy Tim DisPennett that he was “the only guy I know who got kicked out of Heaven today" after he DisPennett was revived on Aug. 6 during a press conference at the Clinton Municipal Building on Wednesday.
Discussion
‘Kicked out of Heaven’: Citizen heroes recognized for coming to deputy’s rescue
Vermillion sheriff starts fundraising effort for AEDs after deputy’s life saved
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