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Man survives heart attack, thanks Meritus, EMS crew for saving life
Jimi McLeod was mending a fence July 16 at the little farm he has in Downsville when his life almost ended. It was through the professional care he received from the EMS crew from Halfway Volunteer Fire Co., other emergency responders from Williamsport, and the interventional cardiology staff and others at Meritus Medical Center that he survived a widow maker heart attack. “It has a 12 percent survival rate,” he noted in a Facebook post thanking everyone who saved his life. A tree branch had landed on the fence, and McLeod decided to repair the two broken boards after getting off work at Lowe’s around 5 p.m., he said in an August interview. It was during the heat wave, when temperatures were in the upper 90s. As he was working, he thought he was starting to get overheated but still managed to put both boards on by taking a break in between. “But then I sat in the shop,” he said, “and it took everything I had to get from the shop to the house.” He still thought it was the heat, but he sent a text message to his wife, Joyce, who was upstairs, to come down and check on him. She initially wanted to call 911, but he hesitated. It was when he realized he couldn’t move his left arm that he asked Joyce to make the call. The EMS crew quickly assessed he was having a massive heart attack, loaded him on the ambulance and sped to the hospital. Though McLeod admitted he was fading in and out of consciousness, he remembered hearing the EMS lieutenant checking his vitals and calling them in to the hospital, along with their ETA. “I didn’t realize how fast they were driving,” he said. “We arrived at the hospital, and I could see all of them waiting. And as I was being wheeled down the hallway, more people were getting around me. “They jumped on me so fast, like a well-oiled machine.” It was at that point that he realized he was unable to breathe. “I decided to just close everything off and focus on living,” he said. The next thing he knew, it was the next day. He was awake and had tubes and wires connected to him. Mansoor Ahmad, M.D., FACC, FSCAI, spoke to McLeod in McLeod’s hospital room, explaining what happened and what the next steps would be. McLeod had to get two more stents, and he was awake for the procedure. “At the end of the surgery, they turned the screen around and showed me what my artery looked like before the stent and how it looked now,” he said. “The whole thing was amazing.” During his time in the intensive care and step-down units, he said every nurse and staffer he encountered was professional and kind. He even got a visit from Meritus President and CEO Maulik Joshi, Dr.P.H., and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anand Budi. Joshi and McLeod’s brother are friends. “I told them, ‘This service here was above and beyond,’” McLeod said. All told, he was in the hospital for five days and received visitors including his wife and daughters, friends and others. Flash forward a few weeks and McLeod was back to work at Lowe’s, though sitting on a stool most of the time. He wanted to thank those who helped save his life. So, after reaching out to the EMS crew, he put up a Facebook post listing off as many people he could name, explaining what happened and how they are the reason he is still alive. “There was about three hours or so, I was told, where they didn’t know I was going to make it,” McLeod said. “One little mess up … my time was close.”
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Trauma patients have new life-saving resource at Meritus
Hospital is first in region to stock whole blood Meritus Medical Center is now stocking a life-saving resource developed on the battlefield that will give trauma patients a better chance at survival. Through work by the Meritus trauma department and blood bank, the hospital will be able to offer whole blood to those patients most at risk of death after a traumatic incident. “This is a big deal,” said Kyle Remick, M.D., FACS, Meritus trauma medical director who also is a retired U.S. Army Colonel. “For patients with the most severe injuries, whole blood has been shown to be life-saving.” Meritus is positioned at the intersection of two major U.S. interstates, meaning the level 3 trauma center frequently sees trauma patients from automobile crashes, in addition to typical injuries seen by hospitals in rural areas. Victoria K. Gonsorcik, D.O., associate pathologist and director of transfusion/blood bank services, said Meritus staff is primed to go. “We have worked with the critical care and the trauma team along with other departments at Meritus to help roll this out,” she said. “We are ready.” The plan is to work with EMS units in the region so first responders can begin whole blood transfusions when they first encounter patients. How does whole blood benefit trauma patients? Normally, donated blood is separated into components — red blood cells, plasma, platelets, etc. — for standard medical use. By using whole blood, studies have found it improves a patient’s chances of survival in the trauma setting. “When inventory allows, whole blood will offer a quick and efficient method to replace significant blood loss and a more rapid correction of bleeding disorders for our massive transfusions and trauma 1 patients,” Dr. Gonsorcik said. Dr. Remick noted that it was military doctors who have pioneered the treatment, learning lessons from treating troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. “We used whole blood up until Vietnam,” said Dr. Remick, who was a battlefield surgeon when he was active duty. “We learned that when trauma patients are bleeding significantly from their injury, replacing blood lost with whole blood gives those patients the best chance of survival.” Several hospitals in the Washington, D.C., region offer the treatment, but Dr. Remick says Meritus would be the first in Western Maryland. “This will be a benefit to the local population as well as those travelling through the region from other parts of the country,” he said. “Injury is the leading cause of death in those 1 to 44 years of age in the U.S., according to the CDC, so it is important for Meritus to be a leader in optimal care for injuries that occur in the community and the region.” Carrie Adams, Pharm.D., Meritus chief operating officer who oversees the hospital, praised the move. “Offering whole blood is another example of Meritus living up to its mission of improving the health of the community,” she said. “As our community continues to grow, we are striving to meet their health needs, and injury care is a significant part of that need.” To learn more about Meritus Medical Center’s emergency care, visit www.meritushealth.com/Emergency.
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Doctor’s orders: More water, movement to benefit your health
If there’s one thing that Liza Hiles, M.D., wants her patients to take away from an appointment with her, it’s that they should increase how much water they drink. “Most people don’t drink enough,” said the provider at Meritus Primary Care in Hancock. Drinking 64 ounces of water a day, along with moving — exercising, walking, etc. — are the top ways people can improve their health. “If you drink more water, you’ll have less space in your belly for junk food,” she said. Though water and exercise are far from the only treatments for what ails you, Dr. Hiles said they have a tremendous impact on the top three conditions she treats in Hancock: high blood pressure, diffuse pain and fatigue, and diabetes. Before looking at medication to treat high blood pressure, Dr. Hiles suggests decreasing your salt intake, along with the aforementioned water and exercise. “It’s in everything, including drinks,” she said of salt. With pain and fatigue, Dr. Hiles said she would first eliminate a pathologic cause by running labs and doing a basic exam. If those tests come back clear, the problem usually comes back to diet and exercise. “The vast majority of the time, it is a lack of movement and their current diet,” she said. “A lot of what we eat can cause inflammation and pain and fatigue. A lot of people don’t realize that’s what’s causing their problems until they change their routine.” Lean proteins, such as chicken or fish, and more fruits and vegetables are her top recommendations. Diabetes is a major problem in all of Washington County, not just Hancock. A few years ago, The Herald-Mail reported that Washington County ranked at or near the top of death rates in Maryland when it comes to diabetes. Dr. Hiles said that some patients come to her and feel perfectly fine, only to have lab results reveal a problem. Some report feeling very thirsty or hungry, or having bad fatigue. Again, she said that lifestyle changes are her first recommendation before looking to medication. “Lifestyle changes are super, super important,” she said. For those who are struggling with that, especially the exercise part, Dr. Hiles recommends “exercise snacking.” Just like with snacking on food, exercise snacking involves moving — even just walking in place — for five minutes when you have the time. Regardless of your diet and exercise regimen or what symptoms you’re experiencing, scheduling and keeping yearly exams with your primary care provider are among the most important things you can do to benefit your health. “We can catch a lot of things early or prevent it when you come in for your exam,” she said. If you live in the greater Hancock area and would like to set up a physical, go to www.meritushealth.com/Hancock. For those outside of Hancock, Meritus has primary care locations in many other parts of the county. Go to www.meritushealth.com/primarycare for a location near you.
Meritus Health Care Caller Program published in peer-reviewed journal
Initiative combats loneliness, which has been linked to poor health outcomes Leaders with a Western Maryland health system have published an article in a peer-reviewed journal highlighting a program designed to upend loneliness and social isolation in their community. The Meritus Health Care Caller program was implemented in November 2021 to combat the negative effects of a solitary lifestyle, including an increased risk of depression, anxiety, and other health issues. “Loneliness and social isolation have been shown to impact life expectancy as much as smoking, obesity and physical inactivity,” said Maulik Joshi, Dr.P.H., president and CEO of Meritus and one of the paper’s authors. “Meritus Health has set out to make sure that loneliness doesn’t take its toll on our community.” The paper by Joshi; Ethan Feldmiller, startup program manager for the proposed Meritus School of Osteopathic Medicine; Lynnae Messner, director of outpatient care management; and Sridhar Rao Gona, pharmacy informatics and research, was published in the September/October 2024 edition of the Journal for Healthcare Quality. What is the Care Callers program? Care Callers uses 81 volunteers and two staff to call 350 health system patients who have indicated they are lonely. Each week, the patient and caller converse for 15 minutes to a half hour. The paper used data current to July 2023, but the most recent statistics show that 95% of the patients in the program report feeling less lonely after four months. Since its inception, more than 700 patients have participated. In fiscal year 2024, Care Callers and patients spoke for 185,915 minutes. And the health system does not intend to slow down. Leaders plan to use what they’ve learned so far to continue addressing inequities and disparities in the community and region. “As anchor organization for the community, we take responsibility for optimizing health outcomes for our neighbors,” Joshi said. “That’s why we’ve implemented Care Callers and other initiatives, not just because it serves a need in our growing community, but also because it’s the right thing to do.” To read the article, click here. To learn more about the Meritus Health Care Callers program, visit www.MeritusHealth.com/carecallers.
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