Vickroy: Valiant effort to save a life

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Bob Philbin, center, and his son Bob Philbin, Jr, stand in front of their home at 9727 S. Cook in Oak Lawn, IL on Wednesday January 17, 2012. The father and son tried in vain to save the life of neighbor Joan Lilek, who suffered a heart attack while shoveling her walk, seen in background. | Matt Marton~Sun-Times Media

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Updated: February 20, 2012 8:08AM

As heartbreaking as it is to lose a family member, there is comfort to be taken from the knowledge that someone tried desperately to save that person’s life.

Bob Philbin was returning the snowblower to the garage of his Oak Lawn home Friday afternoon when he heard a cry for help.

It was about 1:30 and he had just finished clearing the snow from the front of his house and from his next-door neighbor’s walkway when he heard, “Help! Help!”

He looked around but didn’t see anything. He ran out back and checked the alley. Nothing there.

Finally, he peered through his neighbor’s yard and spied three people standing in front of a home across the street.

Joan Lilek had collapsed on the snow, apparently while shoveling.

It had been 12 years since Bob, 39, had taken a CPR course as part of an emergency medical technician training program.

“But it all came right back to me,” he said.

Bob said he did as he was taught. He first checked the scene, to assess the problem. Then he called Joan’s name several times. When he got no response, he threw down his gloves and, ignoring his shoulder injury, dropped to his knees and began administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation. He also shouted to one of the onlookers to run and tell his mother to contact Joan’s friend, and to another to hurry and get his father, a retired Oak Lawn firefighter.

Once he learned about the incident, his father, Bob Philbin Sr., ran across the street and took over the emergency procedure.

Then the two switched off.

“It’s exhausting to keep at it,” Bob said. “But we weren’t going to give up.”

According to the American Heart Association, nearly 300,000 out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrests occur annually, and 80 percent of them occur at home.

Bystander CPR provided immediately after sudden cardiac arrest can double or triple a victim’s chance of survival, but only 32 percent of cardiac arrest victims get CPR from a bystander.

Brian Sayger, doctor of emergency medicine at Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, said the particular motion of shoveling does not induce a cardiac arrest.

“It’s not about the motion, it’s about the exertion,” Sayger said. “People can get too aggressive.”

When a person suffers cardiac arrest, every minute is critical, which is why CPR is so important.

Anybody can learn CPR, Sayger said, and those interested should take an official course.

“In moments of high stress, people will fall back on their training,” he said. “The training is simplistic and repetitive enough that it comes back right away.”

Chintan Mistry, chairman of the emergency medicine department at Christ and Hope Children’s Hospital, said, “Survival with CPR is about 4 to 6 percent and 2 percent without CPR. Return of pulses with CPR is approximately 40 percent, but patients die from related conditions from the heart attack.”

After the Oak Lawn Fire Department arrived that afternoon, paramedics took over.

“They worked so hard,” Bob said. “It was something to see.”

Public service runs through Bob’s veins. His great-grandfather, John Philbin, helped start the Oak Lawn Fire Department. His grandfather and uncle were members of the volunteer force. And his dad had been a firefighter.

Bob has often considered following in their footsteps but, he says, it wasn’t meant to be.

Still, when the opportunity rose for him to enroll in EMT training, he jumped at it.

“I had no idea I’d ever have to use it,” he said.

Bob rode in the ambulance with Joan to the hospital. “It was hard, let me tell you,” he said.

He’d known Joan for about 15 years. He recalled her remarkable sense of humor.

“She was always joking,” he said. “She’d say, ‘Bob what in the hell are you doin’ now?’ ”

By the time they arrived at Christ, Joan was gone. The medical examiner’s office attributed the death to heart disease.

Joan was one of two women who died after shoveling that day.

That night, Bob had trouble sleeping.

“He did a terrific job,” said his dad, who served as an Army medic.

Bob said he was just being a good citizen, a caring human being.

“If my parents had collapsed in the snow, I would want someone to try to help them,” he said.