Dayton man counts a CPR "save"

TOPPENISH–Retired well expert Jim Hickam and his wife Amy were returning from medical appointments on the West Side last week when they encountered a dire situation that led to Hickam giving an unconscious man life-saving cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Hickam is a Walla Walla-Columbia County Fire District No. 2 commissioner who has been involved with emergency medical services in Columbia County since 1987.

The couple were on their way home and decided to get off I-82 at Toppenish for a break at a casino there. As they approached the casino parking lot, Hickam saw that the lot was packed with vehicles and suggested to his wife that, anticipating having to deal with crowds, they skip the stop and continue to Dayton.

As they were leaving Toppenish, Hickam glanced down an alley and saw a man lying on the ground with a group of people surrounding him.

"I could tell the guy wasn't doing well," Hickam said of the man on the ground, whom he noted had signs of lack of oxygen like a blue tinge to his lips.

"It was a situation that I just couldn't turn away from," he added.

Hickam stopped his pickup and approached the group. Several of the individuals were panicking and didn't realize what the man needed or what to do to help him.

"They told me that they'd given him one or two shots of Narcan," Hickam said, "and it hadn't worked."

So he started in giving the man chest compressions. The victim received two more doses of Narcan nasally, he said.

Eventually Hickam heard sirens and soon noticed a fire fighter watching him, but he continued, even though there didn't seem to be any sign of the man coming around.

Hickam said he was beginning to think the guy wouldn't make it when he saw the man's eyelids twitch. Eventually he gasped and began breathing on his own.

As Hickam and wife Amy drove away, she said "Look, he's up." Hickam saw the man on his feet, alive.

Hickam said Narcan is now available over the counter, and from some sources, may be free of charge.

In the intervening days, Hickam talked with Tim Smith of the Toppenish Fire Department, who mentioned that Toppenish averages about three overdose calls a day. "They says Narcan is good but it's just a bandaid," Hickam said. Sadly, the drug users will designate one person to abstain from using so someone is available to administer the Narcan, if necessary.