Spokane Valley woman meets first responders who resuscitated her after being declared dead twice: ‘They’re my lifesavers’

A little more than two years ago, Carma Slinkard was feeling ill and laid down to rest in her Spokane Valley home. A week later, she woke up in a hospital bed after crews from AMR, Spokane Valley Fire Department and Spokane County Fire District 8 performed CPR on her for an hour to bring her back from death.

On Friday, Slinkard shook the hands of eight of the firefighters who saved her life, thanking them for not giving up on her as she lay lifeless.

“I had to say thank you,” she said. “They had the body bag. I could have been in it. But they stayed with me. You gave me back my family.”

Slinkard had taken her son to his job in Post Falls that morning, but began feeling sick after returning home. When it was time for her son to be picked up, her husband, Roger Slinkard, gave her a cool cloth for her forehead and then left. When he returned home, he immediately went to check on his wife, only to find her without a pulse.

“She wasn’t dying when we got there,” he said. “She was dead. We had no idea how much time had passed.”

He shouted to his son to call 911 as he began performing CPR. An AMR ambulance crew was the first to arrive, then two trucks from Spokane Valley Fire and one from District 8. A large number of people is required for pit crew CPR, where people rotate in and out of various roles performing the CPR and monitoring the patient.

Capt. Ian Sutherland of Valley Fire said it’s unusual for CPR to continue for an hour.

“Sometimes the patient is in a shockable rhythm and we keep going,” he said.

They gave Slinkard eight or nine doses of epinephrine, also known as adrenaline, and used a defibrillator on her 10 times. They also gave her multiple doses of antiarrhythmic drugs, which are used to treat irregular heart rhythms.

Slinkard’s husband said the paramedics, in consultation with a doctor, pronounced her dead twice, but then resumed CPR after her heart showed faint signs of life.

“She would occasionally show a trace of a heart murmur that showed up on their scope, and that allowed them to continue,” he said.

Even after her heart restarted, crews did not know how long she had been without a heartbeat and how much brain damage she might have sustained.

“They didn’t know if she was going to make it,” he said.

Once she was in the hospital, she was put on ice to lower her temperature to try to help prevent organ damage, her husband said. Doctors determined that she had a 95% blockage of her artery, causing a “widow maker” heart attack. They performed surgery to clear the blockage and insert a stent.

Slinkard, who said she had no symptoms prior to her heart attack, has recovered nearly fully from her heart attack and only has occasional memory issues.

“Y’all didn’t break one single rib,” she told the firefighters.

She advocates for people to receive CPR training. Many fire departments, including Valley Fire, offer classes to the community for free. She credits her husband for performing CPR on her before crews arrived.

“I like to say the stars were all aligned,” she said. “The AMR crew that responded weren’t supposed to be working, and they were only a minute away.”

Eight firefighters from Spokane Valley Fire met with Slinkard on Friday, two of whom have since retired. She presented them with two bowls of candy, one of them filled with lifesavers.

“They’re my lifesavers,” she said of the firefighters.

Slinkard often fought back tears as she spoke to the firefighters, grateful for their work.

“It’s the most surreal,” she said. “It’s kinda cool because you get a fresh aspect on life.”

Sutherland said crews rarely find out what happens to a patient after the ambulance doors close, and that day they feared the worst. He said they’re grateful to learn that Slinkard is alive and well.

“It’s really cool to be a part of that story,” he said. “That’s fuel for us to keep doing what we do.”