Visitor, VA staff praised for saving life of man who collapsed in Wichita VA parking lot

A visitor and three employees of the Robert J. Dole VA Medical Center are being praised for saving the life of a veteran who suffered cardiac arrest in the parking lot of the medical center on Friday.

The veteran, a 72-year-old man from Wichita, came to the medical center to visit a friend and had collapsed near the parking lot, Dole VA spokesperson Jeffrey Herndon said in a phone call.

Cathy Tullis was pulling up to the VA to pick up a family member who had been in the hospital. She noticed a man lying face down.

She got out of her car to check on the man and found him unresponsive. Tullis ran inside and flagged down VA transportation specialist Kristine Davis, who asked another worker to notify hospital police before running outside with Tullis to help the man, according to Herndon.

Registered nurses Lacey Vogts and Jessica Raub nurses spotted Tullis and Davis helping the man and ran to help, Davis said.

They turned the man on his back and quickly determined that he wasn’t breathing and had no pulse. They started doing CPR chest compressions until the hospital’s rapid response team arrived, a VA news release said.

Sedgwick County Emergency Medical Services and the Wichita Fire Department arrived and helped move the man to Dole VA emergency room, where he was stabilized and then moved to another facility, Herndon said.

“ER staff noted the patient was awake and talking prior to transfer, a good sign after having gone through cardiac arrest,” according to the release.

Tullis reflected on the ordeal and how fast the employees reacted to the incident.

“I know I saw a life saved that day,” Tullis said in the news release. “The staff were so calm, cool, and collected – it was very impressive.”

“We are very proud of the heroic actions taken by our staff last week,” Medical Center Director Michael Payne said. “We get high marks and ratings for the care we provide to our Veterans, but nothing says ‘we care’ like rushing into the parking lot to save a person’s life.’ ”