GERMAN CEO THANKS FAYETTE COUNTY FIRST RESPONDERS
WHO SAVED HIS LIFE
Fayette County, Ga. – Fayette County first responders often don’t know the outcome of the patients they help but on Monday morning they met Knut Zinnacker, a German CEO whose life they helped save.
Sharron Singletary, the office manager who works with Zinnacker at G+Z Machine Services, accepted his emergency call in the morning of April 30 on her work phone.
“Knut advised me to call 911 because he had chest pains and difficulty in breathing. He had called me on my company cell phone and I was able to use my personal cell phone to call 911 at 8:13. I advised the Clayton County 911 operator that I needed to be transferred to Fayette County 911 because my employer visiting from Germany was in his hotel room having a heart attack,” she said.
“I still had Knut on my company cell phone and was talking to him to keep him alert and at 8:18 I heard the paramedics enter the room. They immediately started asking Knut questions and he was still alert to answer,” Singletary said.
When the paramedics were taking Zinnacker to the ambulance, he told them he felt like he was going to get sick.
“One of the medics said, ‘we can't do that’ and started to sing, yes, sing an Elvis Presley song in German and it calmed me,” Zinnacker said.
Zinnacker was quickly transported to Piedmont Fayette Hospital. A medical team from Piedmont Fayette was waiting on the ambulance. Zinnacker was taken to the Heart Cath Lab and a stent was placed in a right artery from the heart that was 100% blocked and the artery was opened.
“At 9:46 I notified the owner of our company in Germany of Knut's heart attack. I told him that a stent was placed in the artery and Knut was alert and talking. We were waiting to see him,” Singletary said.
Zinnacker and Singletary visited Station 4 to thank the First Responders who saved his life.
“You all saved my life on Tuesday last week. I don’t have any cardiology (disease) history, no one in my family does,” Zinnacker said as he began to recount the events of the morning.
“All this emergency chain you are doing here is impressive. You should all be blessed. Thank you very much for what you’ve done,” he said.
Lt. Joe Hartley was leading the Fire and EMS team of paramedics who helped Zinnacker. He said seeing Zinnacker again was a happy and rare opportunity.
“It was nice to see Knut in the aftermath of the call and shake his hand. We don’t always get to see a patient come back so it was nice to see him up and walking and healthy. Sometimes patients have to be in rehab for a while. It’s nice to see him make a full recovery this quickly. I’m glad he gets to go back home to Germany,” Hartley said.
“The survival chain in Fayette County has been trained on, practiced with our service partners, and deployed with great success for many years,” said Fire Chief Jeffrey Hill.
“Fayette County Fire & Emergency Services is proud to have such strong relationships with our partners at Fayetteville Fire Department, Piedmont Fayette Hospital Emergency Department, and the Cardiac Cath Lab within the hospital. This system works like a well-oiled machine and the survivability statistics in Fayette County speak for themselves. If any part of this chain breaks, the outcomes are impacted. We are blessed to have the full support of our Board of Commissioners and County Administrator to operate a progressive and stellar level of emergency services in this county, he said.
Sharron Singletary, the office manager who works with Zinnacker at G+Z Machine Services, accepted his emergency call in the morning of April 30 on her work phone.
“Knut advised me to call 911 because he had chest pains and difficulty in breathing. He had called me on my company cell phone and I was able to use my personal cell phone to call 911 at 8:13. I advised the Clayton County 911 operator that I needed to be transferred to Fayette County 911 because my employer visiting from Germany was in his hotel room having a heart attack,” she said.
“I still had Knut on my company cell phone and was talking to him to keep him alert and at 8:18 I heard the paramedics enter the room. They immediately started asking Knut questions and he was still alert to answer,” Singletary said.
When the paramedics were taking Zinnacker to the ambulance, he told them he felt like he was going to get sick.
“One of the medics said, ‘we can't do that’ and started to sing, yes, sing an Elvis Presley song in German and it calmed me,” Zinnacker said.
Zinnacker was quickly transported to Piedmont Fayette Hospital. A medical team from Piedmont Fayette was waiting on the ambulance. Zinnacker was taken to the Heart Cath Lab and a stent was placed in a right artery from the heart that was 100% blocked and the artery was opened.
“At 9:46 I notified the owner of our company in Germany of Knut's heart attack. I told him that a stent was placed in the artery and Knut was alert and talking. We were waiting to see him,” Singletary said.
Zinnacker and Singletary visited Station 4 to thank the First Responders who saved his life.
“You all saved my life on Tuesday last week. I don’t have any cardiology (disease) history, no one in my family does,” Zinnacker said as he began to recount the events of the morning.
“All this emergency chain you are doing here is impressive. You should all be blessed. Thank you very much for what you’ve done,” he said.
Lt. Joe Hartley was leading the Fire and EMS team of paramedics who helped Zinnacker. He said seeing Zinnacker again was a happy and rare opportunity.
“It was nice to see Knut in the aftermath of the call and shake his hand. We don’t always get to see a patient come back so it was nice to see him up and walking and healthy. Sometimes patients have to be in rehab for a while. It’s nice to see him make a full recovery this quickly. I’m glad he gets to go back home to Germany,” Hartley said.
“The survival chain in Fayette County has been trained on, practiced with our service partners, and deployed with great success for many years,” said Fire Chief Jeffrey Hill.
“Fayette County Fire & Emergency Services is proud to have such strong relationships with our partners at Fayetteville Fire Department, Piedmont Fayette Hospital Emergency Department, and the Cardiac Cath Lab within the hospital. This system works like a well-oiled machine and the survivability statistics in Fayette County speak for themselves. If any part of this chain breaks, the outcomes are impacted. We are blessed to have the full support of our Board of Commissioners and County Administrator to operate a progressive and stellar level of emergency services in this county, he said.