Work Capacity Test was being taken by an individual beginning at 9:00AM on March 6, 2015. The test was being held in an indoor hockey arena. The firefighter was on his 16th lap of 24 when he began to experiience chest pains(approximately 0930) The firefighter continued to walk for a short period until he began to feel dizzy. He started to lean against a wall and lost consciousness. Two firefighters behind him caught before he fell to the ground. The EMT assigned to the test immediately came over and administered oxygen. The patient responded to the oxygen treatment and regained consciousness. The ambulance was on scene with 8 minutes and did some tests on the patient. The patient felt he was feeling fine and refused transport. The ambulance had him sign a release form and suggested that he go to the emergency room to be examined, then left the scene. The test administrator convinced the patient that he should be checked at the ambulance and personnally drove him to the Cloquet Hospital Emergency Room. Within a short time after entering the hospital it was determined that he be sent to the cardiac care unit of Essentia Hospital in Duluth, MN. He was transproted by ambulance to Essentia, tested and almost immediately went into surgery. Patient spent 7.5 hrs in surgery to correct an enlarge Aortic aneurysm. The repair required the surgeon to replace a portion of his aorta and insert a prosthetic heart valve. The patient spent 7 days in the hospital and was released on 3/12/15. He is at home recovering at this time. |