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Rider Down...Really Down.


AustinBike
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Crazy morning today. I was out at Walnut doing a lap and came across a rider by the tool stand in the middle of the park who was waving wildly to me. Figured he had a flat but as I turned to head over there I saw another rider down.

The first guy was on the phone with 911, the other guy was not moving at all and appeared to not be breathing. He clearly collapsed, this was not a crash. As soon as we heard sirens he stayed there and I shot off to direct them from the street. About a dozen people, showed up, fire, EMS, etc. Lifeflight was circling.

We heard someone say "faint pulse" which was a hopeful sign. With so many people standing over him I took off, I didn't want to be in the way and quite frankly couldn't be of any assistance.

I hope this guy pulls through, if anyone hears anything, please post up.

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41 minutes ago, Teamsloan said:

Bummer. So did he collapse there where you saw him, or did the 911 caller haul him out from a trail?

Sobering story for sure.


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He was non-responsive by the time I rolled up. The other guy who was helping him said that he was barely making any sounds when he got there. Other guy called 911. All I did was roll out to direct the emergency folks to the scene.

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Over by me. Swearingen, Gracy Woods neighborhood private entrance. I saw the chopper overhead and wondered if it was a fellow mtbkr. Drove over to ask medics and saw a body bag on gurney. I shouldn't have done that. The only thing that made me feel better was knowing that they died doing what they love. Then I missed Mehoway.

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10 hours ago, June Bug said:

AB, I'm glad you were able to help by directing EMS to the person in distress. 

What trailhead did EMS use to enter the park? 

How were they directed to that trailhead?

The guy was definitely a biker. Did not get a good look at his bike but he was in bike clothes and had a camelbak; my guess is he was a new biker but probably my age. We may be seeing more of this in the COVID world so be on the lookout.

The EMS came in via the entrance near Swearingen, I rode over there, flagged them down and led them back to the scene. By the time I got back a third biker was doing CPR. He stopped when the pros got there.

My guess is that the emergency crews were directed by 911. ARR should be commended for the signage and location numbers because without that there would be no way to figure out how to get them there. An arrival at the pool lot would have been a mess.

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That entrance is very close to the tool stand, maybe only 75 yards if that. I'm glad to know the numbers on the brown Carsonite posts are working well with the 911 system. 

Also, although this incident ultimately had a very sad ending, I'd strongly encourage y'all to learn CPR or watch a refresher youtube. 

An Austin road cyclist and friend, Stanton Truxillo, had a coronary and collapsed on a group ride in South Austin.  At that moment, a passing nurse stopped and immediately started CPR, which kept Stanton alive until EMS got there and applied an automated external defibrillator (AED).  

EMS had to revive Stanton several times in the ambulance; he had immediate bypass surgery.  Stanton is still cranking along and riding these  12 or 13 years later.  He's now in his mid 80s. 

We  did a Red Cross CPR class a few months after  Stanton's close call, but I could do with a refresher. Remember that CPR no long involves mouth-to-mouth with adults.  

Learning CPR will also teach you to spot and administer small AEDs, which are mounted on the wall in buildings here and there, especially medical office buildings which aren't hospitals, at schools and colleges and lots of other places. 

Edited by June Bug
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A bigger risk for new riders of a more advanced age is bar-b-q disease. People that want to start a lifestyle that involves new, more strenuous activities should have a checkup. My heart attack was a HUGE surprise. The fact I was already active and cycling is what saved my life, according to the doc that treated me. My previous lifestyle is what put me more at risk. 

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1 hour ago, TheX said:

 People that want to start a lifestyle that involves new, more strenuous activities should have a checkup. 

100% this^

I (used) to see people at the gym and at work who were grossly out of shape, up and decide they were gonna take up an aggressive crossfit program or the old P90x to "lose weight". All they ended up doing was permanently injuring themselves, or at best just giving up after a couple of weeks.

You cant got from a sedentary office lifestyle to being active or erase decades of poor diet and lifestyle choices in 120 days. With the pandemic, I see people who should NOT be running, trying to get laps in on their lunch hour in the middle of the summer. One of the owners of a local auto dealership who's in his mid 50s tried that, and had a bad ass heart attack for it.

This is the one that scared the shit out of me:

https://www.bicycling.com/health-nutrition/a25337675/mark-weir-dodges-widowmaker-heart-attack/

 

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This is something that happens all too often.

“You see it all the time,” explained heart surgeon Larry Creswell, M.D., endurance sport enthusiast and author of the Athlete’s Heart Blog. “Guys have a heart attack or other cardiac event, and when you talk to them, they had symptoms like chest pain or tightness and shortness of breath—sometimes for quite a while—and they just ignored it, figuring it had to be something else.”

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There was a doctor up in North Austin who played squash. He'd been complaining about chest problems for a week to his wife but didn't do anything about it. Then when it got worse, he told his wife he'd go in and see a heart specialist... But died of a heart attack before he did. This is a doctor who made this mistake.

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8 hours ago, ATXZJ said:

100% this^

I (used) to see people at the gym and at work who were grossly out of shape, up and decide they were gonna take up an aggressive crossfit program or the old P90x to "lose weight". All they ended up doing was permanently injuring themselves, or at best just giving up after a couple of weeks.

You cant got from a sedentary office lifestyle to being active or erase decades of poor diet and lifestyle choices in 120 days. With the pandemic, I see people who should NOT be running, trying to get laps in on their lunch hour in the middle of the summer. One of the owners of a local auto dealership who's in his mid 50s tried that, and had a bad ass heart attack for it.

This is the one that scared the shit out of me:

https://www.bicycling.com/health-nutrition/a25337675/mark-weir-dodges-widowmaker-heart-attack/

 

This, combined with all the talk over in the "injury thread", then combined with my healthy neighbor's out of the blue heart attack (triple bypass) got me to go out and get my Heart CT calcium scan.  Which I got a perfect score and now sleep better for it.  Don't stop banging this drum...

Thanks
CJB

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33 minutes ago, CBaron said:

This, combined with all the talk over in the "injury thread", then combined with my healthy neighbor's out of the blue heart attack (triple bypass) got me to go out and get my Heart CT calcium scan.  Which I got a perfect score and now sleep better for it.  Don't stop banging this drum...

Thanks
CJB

Well done!!!!

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