Health
UKIAH, Calif. – It started out as an average day, recalled Milo Moreno, maintenance worker at Ukiah Valley Medical Center (UVMC).
But what happened that Tuesday, Sept. 2, was extraordinary.
“I was working on a commercial kitchen microwave that wasn’t working,” shared Moreno, who continued, “I had been checking all the parts and had just plugged and unplugged the microwave when Eric Odlozil, technician from Reliance Enterprises, came into the maintenance shop and began giving me some troubleshooting advice. I really appreciated his expertise in helping me figure out what the malfunction was. Eric asked me if I had checked the plug. He immediately pushed the plug into the outlet while holding the microwave. I immediately heard a pop and jumped back.
“Eric remained clinging on to the microwave. So, I reacted by shoving it out of his hands. Eric fell backwards and the microwave fell beside him. I said to him, 'Dude are you OK?' He barely garbled out the word no – his eyes were also going crazy and moving all around.”
What happened next is a nothing short of heroic.
“I knew something wasn’t right and I ran into the hospital to the emergency room where I found Dr. Trotter. Dr. Trotter grabbed a couple more of his colleagues and ran with me back out to the maintenance shop where we found Eric not breathing! I couldn’t believe this was happening. Dr. Trotter called a code blue and began resuscitating Eric. I stayed by his side the whole time until I knew everything was going to be alright.”
UVMC and its staff were grateful for Moreno’s acts of heroism and wanted to honor him with a gift.
However, rather than receiving a gift he is asking the community to be heroes for someone else by donating bone marrow on Monday, Dec. 15, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. in honor of his cousin Erick Moreno who recently passed away at the age of 14 from leukemia.
The test is a simple swab that tests your saliva for a potential match in the Be The Match registry.
Anyone between the ages of 18 to 44 is eligible to join the registry.
There will also be a special hero celebration for Moreno at 3:30 p.m. that day.
For more information please contact UVMC at 707-463-7616 or visit www.bethematchfoundation.org/goto/uvmc .
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LAKEPORT, Calif. – Thanks to generous donations from the community and staff, Sutter Lakeside Hospital will get two new ventilators by the end of this year.
The hospital received more than $24,000 in donations from community members and employees, including the medical staff and volunteers.
Sutter negotiated a reduced price and contributed the remaining funds.
“We’re grateful for our donors’ generosity, which will help us provide optimal care to patients with severe respiratory complications,” said Sutter Lakeside Chief Administrative Officer Siri Nelson. “We generally see many more of these cases during the flu and pneumonia season from October through April.”
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) predicts this may be one of the worst seasons yet due to the enterovirus D68 (EV-D68).
There are no available vaccines or treatments for this virus, making mechanical ventilation crucial.
“Sutter Lakeside Hospital serves a large retired community and we’re generally hit hard during the flu season,” said Chief of Medical Staff Fred Johnson, M.D. “The new ventilators will make it possible for us to serve our patients instead of transferring them to other facilities.”
Dr. Johnson led the effort to raise funds for the ventilators and rallied unprecedented support from hospital employees and volunteers.
The medical staff donated $8,000 and administrative staff members donated another $1,500.
The Sutter Lakeside Auxiliary was the largest contributor; this dedicated group of volunteers donated $10,000 raised at the hospital gift shop.
“After we heard Dr. Johnson’s presentation about why we needed the ventilators, it was a unanimous decision,” says Auxiliary President Sharon Brash. “It was clearly a priority for the health of our community and we were pleased to help.”
To learn more about Sutter Lakeside, visit www.sutterlakeside.org/ .
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