Grouse Mountain Lodge defibrillator saves second life

By CONSTANCE SEE

Whitefish Pilot

When Grant Inge's heart stopped beating at the Grouse Mountain Lodge, not only his life but his rescuers' were changed forever. Inge was the second lodge guest whose life was saved in less than a year by trained staff using the company's defibrillator.

On Feb. 19, Inge decided instead of eating at his Whitefish home to head to Grouse Mountain for an early lunch at 10 a.m.

"They seated me and I collapsed," Inge said. "I disappeared at that point. I was unconscious."

Waitress Kim Allen recognized Inge as a regular and walked to his table to greet him.

"I noticed he was kind of slumped over in his chair, and his face didn't look good," Allen said. "A Canadian cardiac nurse was at another table. She came over and started taking his vitals. He wasn't responding."

Allen ran for the defibrillator when she saw Lexie Brabham, another employee. They told the front desk to call 911.

Brabham got the defibrillator when co-worker Marianne Rozar asked if she could help. The three ladies joined another customer and the nurse who was trying to revive Inge with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

They all helped get Inge's shirt off and lowered him to the ground. Immediately, Rozar and Barbham began defibrillator protocol.

"By the time we arrived with the equipment, his face was blue," Brabham said. "We were all holding our breath waiting for him to breath. It was only minutes, but it seemed like hours."

Rozar and Brabham said time seemed to stand still while they worked, blocking out everything but the machine and Inge.

Outside the restaurant, a visiting church group prayed for him.

According to his hospital report, paddles were applied within about a minute of his heart attack, a key factor to his healthy survival, Inge said.

Ambulance personnel arrived quickly. They started Inge's heart twice, and it was started again at North Valley Hospital, Inge said.

He was transferred to Kalispell Regional Medical Center where two stents were inserted to open up an artery that was 80 percent plugged. The cause of the heart attack was later ruled to be electrical.

"The fact that I went through this and didn't have any damage is a miracle in itself," Inge said. "I'm doing great. If I had been home alone eating lunch or driving down the highway, I would have died. I'm one lucky guy. It just wasn't my time. Thank you Lord."

Inge was transferred to a Missoula hospital where a pacemaker was installed in his chest. After he was released, he returned to the lodge to thank everyone involved.

Rozar said he looked vibrant and healthy, relieving her worries.

"You wonder why did you survive," Inge said. "There were so many things that had to happen right for me to live. The other thing is you get blessed with cards and phone calls. You just feel loved."

The lodge employees who helped save Inge's life said their lives were changed as well.

"Every day when I wake up I see his face," Rozar said. "I think I will for the rest of my life. He has a heart of gold."

In May of last year, another guest had a heart attack at Grouse Mountain Lodge. Gary Cockerill was saved by a registered nurse, Crissy Weibert, and Jamie Simpson, another employee who used the lodge defibrillator.

Emergency physician Rod Vaught at North Valley Hospital said defibrillators are fairly new in public facilities in Montana.

"Grouse Mountain was one of the first private organizations that decided to buy one. Mostly their human resource manager, Karen Baker, spearheaded it," Vaught said. "It's cool that they saved two people in a year. We're lucky if we do that here. If you get to somebody within six to eight minutes, you save them and they're mentally all right. It was fantastic."