BYSTANDER RECOGNIZED FOR HELP IN SAVING CARDIAC ARREST VICTIM

  

A neighbor’s efforts in saving the life of a cardiac arrest victim were recognized at today’s (Tuesday) Washington County Commissioners meeting.

Chuck Buechmann is credited with helping save the life of Michael Antkowiak on December 29, 2018, by performing extensive CPR while waiting for first responders. He also took on several other duties to help EMS transport Antkowiak to Baylor Scott and White – College Station.

EMS Director Kevin Deramus gave a presentation on the events of that day. Buechmann and Antkowiak were unable to be there for the meeting.  Deramus also gave an update on Antkowiak’s condition, saying he’s doing “super great” and is “completely neuro-intact”.

Deramus told the court authorities received a 911 call from Antkowiak’s son, Jon, just before 3 p.m. Jon alerted them his father went into cardiac arrest while leaving his tractor on his property on FM 2502, in the Greenvine area.  Deramus said Antkowiak’s property sits at the edge of the nearest EMS station’s coverage area, and dispatchers were dealing with spotty phone reception.

Buechmann performed CPR on Michael, who was not breathing and had no pulse, for 13 uninterrupted minutes before EMS arrived. Jon stayed on the phone with EMS while they were enroute.  Washington County Sheriff's deputies also responded to the scene.  Deramus said science would say by extension that Antkowiak was “130 percent braindead”, citing a loss of 10 percent survival rate for every minute passed.

Once first responders arrived, they located Antkowiak in a field a few miles away from his home. Deramus said the ambulance could not physically get to him, due to the recent rains, so the patient had to be brought to the ambulance.

Deramus said Buechmann used his four-wheel-drive pickup truck to take Antkowiak to the ambulance.  EMS departed with Antkowiak to College Station after roughly 25 minutes on scene, and arrived there an hour later.

Each of the commissioners expressed their gratitude toward Buechmann and EMS authorities. Commissioner Candace Bullock thanked EMS and their efforts, along with Commissioner Don Koester, who maintained Washington County has “the best EMS in Texas”.

Commissioner Kirk Hanath emphasized the importance of “outside-of-the-box thinking”, saying if responders didn’t have it, they would have been “reading off of cue cards” trying to figure out what was wrong. Commissioner Joy Fuchs said Antkowiak certainly had angels watching over him that day.

County Judge John Durrenberger said the team of dispatchers, responders, and those onsite working together is what made this happen. Deramus said it also takes a neighbor, and said often times large cities and communities have people that “aren’t neighbors like we are here”.

Also in court, commissioners:

• Tabled action on an agreement between the county and Gessner Engineering for materials testing at the new Road and Bridge facility.  County Attorney Renee Mueller said she has a conference call with Gessner’s legal counsel scheduled for Thursday.
• Did not receive any bids for an oil, gas and mineral lease on county-owned school land in Tom Green County.
• Approved the Sheriff’s Office for a service contract with Voice Products Services for maintenance on audio/video systems.  Mueller said this maintenance contract is a renewal of what the Sheriff’s Office has had in the past.
• Approved a proclamation proclaiming April 28^th through May 5^th as Soil and Water Conservation Week.
• Approved the appointment of Annette Wagner to the Hotel Occupancy Tax Board.  Wagner, who works at Germania Insurance, is replacing Melinda Faubion.
• Approved a resolution for the county to participate in TIPS Purchasing Cooperative.