Hospital Foundation raises another $26k

Last Saturday night, Phillips County Health Care Foundation held their 25th Annual Fundraiser. The event raised $26,670.50 before expenses were accounted for. Kent Wasson was the banquet's emcee. The guest speaker was Greg Kielb of KMMR radio 100.1 FM.

Kielb shared his appreciation for the Phillips County Hospital and its staff, which saved his life from a severe heart attack in which he was clinically dead for more than 16 minutes on Friday, May 13 earlier this year.

"It is very good to see you people here tonight," Kielb said. "You should be here, it's a very good cause and I'm the one that should not be here."

Kielb then joked that Greg Ziegler, owner of Valley Drug and PC Healthcare Foundation Board Member was happy that he was still here because "dead people don't need seven pills a day."

Kielb went on to explain his heart attack experience which started with Kielb not feeling well.

"My wife (Claude) insisted that I call the ambulance and I reluctantly agreed," Kielb said.

Kielb and his wife looked all over his house to find aspirin to help but the couple found every pain reliever except.

"Before long the ambulance arrived and as they were loading me, they didn't have the gurney lifted quite high enough so when they started pushing me forward, I came to a very sudden stop. On the second try they got me loaded and I remember thinking, this is not starting out very good."

Shortly after meeting with Family Nurse Practitioner Sherry Gairrett in the Emergency Room at Phillips County Hospital Kielb clenched up, and turned purple from the chest up.

"I then faded to black for about six or seven hours," Kielb said. "I had arrived at the ER just moments before suffering a severe heart attack. How lucky can you get?"

Over the next two hours, for seven or eight times the staff couldn't find a pulse for more than a few minutes at a time.

"I think it was five times that they had to use the paddles on me, trying to get a steady heart beat," Kielb said. "They didn't know it but they gave new meaning to the term 'Shock Jock'".

According to Kielb the last time they lost his pulse was for around 16 minutes.

"Sherry told me later that they discussed how long they should keep trying because my heart was not responding," Kielb said.

Once stabilized Kielb was flown out to Billings. After the successful resuscitation, Kielb had six bypasses six weeks later. Kielb later found out that despite the missing oxygen to his brain during his clinical death, he had sustained no brain damage.

"I could only thank those who worked so hard in that Emergency Room that day," Kielb said. "I believe there where ten people in that room that day. Each time I received CPR, one person would go for two minutes and then they would switch so everyone stayed fresh."

He then addressed those in the crowd who helped keep him alive, a few of which he didn't know helped him until that moment.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Kielb said.

Kielb had successfully quit smoking after his heart attack on May 13.

Cliff Rustad, who suffered a heart attack before the first PC Healthcare Fundraiser which was held on November 14, 1992 was the auctioneer.

"I think it went real well," Rustad said about this year's auction. "I was really surprised. When it started I wondered, but everybody came through, so I was very happy."

There were no $2,000 pies at the auction, but Rustad was pleased with the amount of high dollar items that were sold. The high-dollar item this year was a painting by Todd Mandeville titled, "A Blanket of Roses," which raised $875 after being purchased for $500 by the American Prairie Reserve who re-donated the item and was resold to Independence Bank for $375.

Other high-dollar items included "For Chocolate Lovers Only" and wine baskets donated by Marian Ereaux and The Liquor Haven which sold for a total of $775, a Patriotic Quilt by Quilting by the Border which sold for $625 and a pair of Vulture binoculars donated by Westside Sports, Kid Curry Casino and Westside Self Service that sold for $575.

This year's event hopes to assist in purchasing a $10,000 Emergency Room handheld Ultrasound device and an $8,000 blanket warmer for the Emergency Room.