Remaining SSIPA Tournaments
Roxanne Pierce
The highlight of my Minto US Open trip actually occurred on my flight back home.
The flight out of Fort Myers was delayed.
We arrived in St. Louis 30 minutes late and then sat on the tarmac for another 15 minutes waiting for a gate to open. Grrrrr. I had a really tight connection. Arriving into gate C-12, I could see my next plane at C-14 still parked. Yea! I barreled my way to the front, ran up the jetway, and flew over to the next gate and partway down the jetway when I heard a loud voice hollering,“ Lady, LADY, you can’ t go there. HOLD ON!!!” I exclaimed,“ That ' s my flight!”
She calmly told me she’ d get me on. I had a stop in Wichita where I thankfully changed from a cramped middle seat to the very front row with tons of leg room. A wheelchair passenger was brought on board with his mother and sat across the aisle. He just didn’ t look good. A very astute flight attendant, Drew, recognized his distress. Right after takeoff he called for a Spanish speaker and any medical personnel to please pull their“ call” button. I leaned forward and whispered under my breath that I was a retired paramedic, praying someone more qualified would step forward— a nurse practitioner did. Through the interpreter, the nurse taking vitals, and the flight attendant talking to medical personnel on the ground, the situation appeared to be under control and the captain continued on toward Phoenix.
Halfway through the flight the nurse came back up front and discovered the passenger wasn’ t breathing and had no pulse. My paramedic instincts and training took over: Grabbing under his arms and with the assistance of Drew getting his legs, we got him down in the aisle. I ripped his shirt off and started compressions( to the beat of“ Stay, stay, stay, stay, stayin’ alive”) while the nurse ventilated through a mask. Defibrillator pads were smacked on, but the machine advised not to shock. That’ s the case when there is zero activity. The nurse and I continued CPR for 20 minutes until we arrived at our diversion city, Albuquerque, NM, where the fire department paramedics took over. After another 20 minutes of CPR, an IV line, medications and defibrillation, the patient / passenger was carted off to Presbyterian Hospital.
Through some crazy circumstances, I was in the right place at the right time.
End of story? Nope. Curiosity got the better of me, so I called AFD Station 2 the next day. I learned the passenger had a pulse and good blood pressure when he arrived at the E. R. and had been transferred to the ICU. Whoa, what a feeling!!! To all my fellow pickleballers, save a life!!! Learn CPR, take a course, refresh your skills. You just never know … •
Super Senior International Pickleball Association( SSIPA)
Go to www. ssipa-pb. org for membership information.
If you’ re interested in hosting a SSIPA tournament in 2018, email ssipa. pb @ gmail. com.
Coronado SSIPA: Age 75 Mixed winners Frank & Lola Benneyan, Alice Tym, Bill Smith, Margo Dragoo & John Browing.
Mixed Doubles 65 + winners from the SPA tournament in Surprise: Yoda Friedenberg, Marcha Freso, Yvonne & Jim Hackenberg and Dave Zapatka and Diane Baumgartner.
Remaining SSIPA Tournaments
June 20-22 SSIPA- Lewis & Clark Super Seniors Shootout, Washougal, WA
July 18-20 Denver Pickleball Classic, Denver / Littleton, CO
Aug. 21-23 Billy the Kid SSIPA Shootout, Ruidoso, NM
Sept. 15-17 IFP Bainbridge Cup 2017, Madrid, Spain
Oct. 23-25 SSIPA – Super Senior World Pickleball Championships, Griffin, GA
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