Tony Deys (pictured far right) speaks with members of the Lethbrige firefighter/paramedic integrated response team

By Lara Fominoff

EMS integrated response model helps save 52-year-old Lethbridge man’s life

Jan 31, 2020 | 1:11 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Tears welled up in 52-year-old Tony Deys’ eyes as he prepared to speak about the events of Dec. 15, 2019. That’s when he had a heart attack and nearly died.

“I’m here today, and I probably shouldn’t be here today,” said Deys as his voice wavered. He doesn’t remember much about that time. He was told by his friends and wife what happened.

The well-known southern Alberta man went to play hockey at the ATB Centre with some teammates, but only stayed on the ice for about 20 minutes before going back into the dressing room. Deys says his friends knew something was wrong and asked him if they should call 9-1-1. He declined, but a close friend went into the dressing room with him anyway. The friend went into a shower but kept talking to him. When Deys stopped answering, the friend called 9-1-1 immediately. Just a couple of minutes later, members of the EMS Integrated Response Service were on the scene.

“Let’s be honest,” he said. “I was one of the ones that when there was a call and I would see an ambulance and a fire truck, I would think to myself, why?”

Now, he knows why. More than half a dozen members of the unit responded to the call for help.

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Members of the Firefighter/EMS integrated response service who saved Deys’ life. ~Photo Courtesy: Stacy Deys

Bradon Burton is one of the firefighter/ems team members that helped save Deys’ life.

When the team got to the scene, Burton says they found Deys on the floor of the dressing room unresponsive. He had no pulse, and the team began administering CPR immediately. In about 20 minutes, the team was able to get a pulse again, and quickly sent him to Chinook Regional Hospital where a STARS Air Ambulance was waiting for him.

“Time is heart muscle,” he explained.

“Oftentimes, the outcome isn’t as good as what we heard of today,” said Deputy Fire Chief Gerrit Sinke. “And yet, our dedicated fire and EMS crews work exceptionally hard regardless of what the call is and work really hard for the citizens of Lethbridge.”

Once Deys reached Calgary Foothills Hospital, he was placed in an induced coma for two days. Doctors there didn’t know what would happen when he regained consciousness.

“They didn’t know how long I’d been without oxygen. So, they said to my wife ‘you might want to bring the kids up too, because we don’t know what Tony is gonna come out. Is it going to be the Tony that doesn’t have any brain function anymore?’ But because of the response that I got at first from these people at the ATB Centre, I was without oxygen for a little bit…those first few minutes are so crucial, and so that’s where it made all the difference.”

Deys, whose heart is now back up to about 85 per cent function, can’t say enough wonderful things about everyone from the volunteers who began performing CPR, to the 9-1-1 operators, to the firefighter-paramedics to STARS, to the doctors at Calgary Foothills Hospital.

“I’m standing here. And I shouldn’t be standing here…it was so emotional seeing these guys and knowing what they did for me and my family. I’ve got three young kids. They’re a special group of guys.”

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