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Man Dies Shortly After Sleepy Hollow 10K

Sleepy Hollow Manor neighbors witnessing the 54-year-old Harrison man's collapse said they were upset by how long it took for emergency aid to arrive.

A 54-year-old Harrison man collapsed during Saturday’s Sleepy Hollow Halloween 10K and was apparently declared dead shortly after his arrival at Phelps Memorial Hospital.

The man's identity and more information on the incident have not yet been released by Sleepy Hollow police, a spokesperson from the hospital, or race director Kristen Idalski.

The runner's collapse happened on Fremont Street in the Sleepy Hollow Manor neighborhood, where neighbors and fellow runners rushed to his aid. 

“We felt he was still alive after falling but he didn’t have a big pulse,” said Kristen Lankester of Fremont Road, who, with her husband Chuck, was among the first to take a role in trying to save the man's life.

Lankester estimated it took 20 minutes for emergency aid to arrive at the scene.

She contrasted that to reports she had heard that there was EMS support for the race just down the road at Philipse Manor Train Station.

The man had, according to what runners behind the man told the Lankesters, gasped and looked wobbly. Then he collapsed, hitting his head on the way down. He lay prone, with his head on the lawn and body on the street.

Lankester and others on the scene figured he had suffered some sort of arrest, but couldn't assume anything about his medical history. Lankester said he was bleeding from a cut on his head but wasn't losing much blood.

Neighbors and runners who stopped kept asking passing runners if there were a doctor or nurse among them; finally a doctor runner did happen by and started aggressively doing CPR on the man.

Multiple 911 calls were made, neighbors said. 

As the minutes ticked by, runners moved everyone to one side of the road and the samaritan doctor “started desperately doing CPR on the spot.” Lankester said the doctor said, “he’s fired up,” meaning he had gotten the heart rate back up which he continued to do for many minutes.

Chuck Lankester pulled his car out because he thought he would take the man to the hospital himself, but the doctor ruled it out since he wouldn’t be able to continue CPR en route.

Another neighbor just a few doors down on Fremont, Erin McCarthy, witnessed the whole scene, albeit at a bit further back to shield her young children, and found herself shocked. “We are completely outraged by the horrible response time from the police and ambulance," she said.

McCarthy continued:

It was an epic fail by our police and emergency responders. People kept calling frantically and on our third call, the police officer told my husband that the ambulance responders were all volunteers so it takes them much longer. Can this be true? We have no paid responders? And we live so close to Phelps, no one could have been dispatched from there?

After what neighbors felt was 15 minutes, help was apparently near but lost in the Manor, according to both Lankester and McCarthy. They said they heard police leading the ambulance there went the wrong way down Fremont.

Lankester speculated there were any number of factors at work on what was surely a complicated day: roads were blocked for the race making traveling more complicated and clearly there some sort of communication problem. Still, “it’s not so uncommon that a runner will drop during these races,” said Lankester, who was stunned that there wouldn’t be medical assistance on shorter call for such an event.

A third Sleepy Hollow Manor resident, who did not want to use his name, explained that geography itself was not on their side: "It may also be worth noting that that's quite possibly the worst intersection in the entire village for an emergency. Fremont crosses Hemlock no less than three times. You'd think dispatchers familiar with the area would know to be very specific, but at the same time it's not surprising that the ball got dropped somewhere along the line."

This resident said that the first ambulance witnesses heard and saw was the Sleepy Hollow Ambulance. They saw it enter the Manor at the northern entrance, "which is the right place to go if you think you're headed to the northeast intersection of Fremont and Hemlock." He recounted that a few minutes later another ambulance appeared at that same entrance. Neither one with a police escort. "The routes both took seem consistant with dispatching confusion," he said.

Finally, police and EMS arrived—Lankester noted two units from Sleepy Hollow and Ossining, the first a blue van with lights—who immediately gave the man oxygen and “other treatments."

From there, he was transported to Phelps. 

Lankester said she had been working with other runners to help to find the man’s name and information. Race director Idalski had been back and forth with Lankester on the phone and put the concerned neighbor in touch with the man’s wife.

Lankester said she was the person who called the wife to tell her what happened and that he had been transported to Phelps.

The Lankesters were now personally invested in this man’s fate; the couple went to the hospital to check in on the man about an hour or an hour-and-a-half after the incident. There they said they came across the man’s wife, who told them he had died.

“It’s important we all be educated on how to handle these things” is a lesson Lankester said she walked away with on Saturday. She and her husband both think there should be some sort of emergency preparedness protocol in place for villagers.

In the meantime, she plans on immediately signing up for CPR training with the Red Cross and urges others to do the same. If help isn't coming, she said, we'd better be ready to help each other.

“Everyone made a heroic effort,” Lankester said, “but it would have probably been better if he got professional help sooner.”

According to the Rivertown Runners website, the group that coordinated this Third Annual event with more than 1,000 participants, "The course is challenging, scenic and fun!"

The route:

Runners will start on Beekman Ave heading East towards Broadway/Rte 9 turning onto Washington and then down Valley St. From there the course takes you down to College Ave and then up Cortlandt back to Beekman heading West (towards the Hudson river). From Beekman turn right onto Andrews lane. Follow Andrews to Pocantico and turn left down Pocantico into the Manors.

Many participants wear costumes for this festive race, and there are water stations throughout. For a map of the race route click here

 

Stay tuned for updates on this story.

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Krista Madsen (Editor) October 22, 2012 at 10:46 pm
Nice points Catherine, thank you
bxgirl October 23, 2012 at 12:02 am
i was one of the runners working on him to try to help. the time it took for the ems to get there was appaling. the other runners that had stopped and helped were beyond amazing as were all the residents of the community.
Lenny Nathan October 23, 2012 at 12:30 am
It's sad to read the some of the comments here. Much is Monday morning quarterbacking in my view. I am not sure most people understand the emergency response system as I know I did not until I became a part of it. The most important element here is that someone died. He had family. He had friends. His age shows that it was too soon.
When a 911 medical emergency is phoned in the dispatch goes to Police, ALS (Advanced Life Support=Paramedics) and BLS (Basic Life Support=EMT w/ ambulance). Usually police are first on scene as they are out patrolling and often can be closer. The second to arrive is often ALS. Care is not delayed as these are both pay services and their response time is not dependant on leaving home to go pick up an ambulance as is the case often with the volunteer ambulance service. This is not really a terrible thing but this is how it is. The only delay that this creates would be the actual ride to the hospital. Remember though, Advanced Life Support care is in progress. Now, when an event like the one that tragically occurred during the race takes place there is nothing that first responders will be able to do unless immediate bystander support is given. I find this to be the bigger weakness over what people here are complaining about. The police state that their car was on scene in 8 minutes. These are taped time reports that are done as they happen. Not likely to be manufactured. continued in next post
Lenny Nathan October 23, 2012 at 12:32 am
Now some people stated that eventually a doctor came by and started CPR. Then someone proclaiming to be a nurse. This is where I find the story a little grey. If it took them 3-4 minutes to begin CPR it likely was to late for this person if CPR would have even been able to resuscitate him.
When a person collapses from SCA (Sudden Cardiac Arrest) they will be brain dead in about 4 minutes unless immediate CPR is begun. This appears not to be the case here, but it is unclear. Now, there is no panacea that early enough CPR would have changed anything but it is the only chance that this person would have had. I would assume (I now I know) that the police would have had an AED (Defibrillator) and could/should/did attempt to use it immediately. If not the ALS, Paramedics, surely would have had one. However, unless bystander CPR started soon enough all hope would be lost. The national survival rate for SCA victims is below 11%. But we look at places like Seattle Washington where it is about 50%. The reason is 30 years of mandatory CPR education in the schools. And, unlike here were many say, "I took a CPR course" but then have no idea what to do in an emergency because they never refreshed their skills. It is imperative that to avoid tragedies like this one (and over 400,000 SCA victims outside of the hospital with about 340,000 deaths every year in the US) that people take some responsibilities and learn CPR and First Aid.
Lenny Nathan October 23, 2012 at 12:35 am
There is no EMT or Paramedic that can successfully resuscitate someone unless immediate CPR was done by bystanders. Now many will say, "I don't want to incur liability." Well you won't. Many will say "I don't want to catch a disease. " If you are trained properly you will learn that you do not do anything if it is unsafe for you. And thirdly there are those that will claim that they are afraid to do something wrong and hurt the person. YOU CANNOT MAKE IT WORSE THAN IT ALREADY IS!
Go out and learn CPR, stay current by reviewing it or taking the course periodically. Learn Basic First Aid. The life you protect or save may be a loved one. It also never hurts to help a stranger.
Jaques Strape October 23, 2012 at 12:51 am
Guess if you want to have professional EMS, you will need to pay $40K in taxes. Have fun with that.
SAD October 23, 2012 at 03:34 am
I was one of the runners who helped to aide this poor man, and this man's pulse was being checked and CPR was started promptly when no pulse was palpable. If you are going to quote Wikipedia take the full quote, "Studies have shown that immediate CPR followed by defibrillation within 3–5 minutes of sudden VF cardiac arrest improves survival. In cities such as Seattle where CPR training is widespread and defibrillation by EMS personnel follows quickly, the survival rate is about 30 percent. In cities such as New York, without those advantages, the survival rate is only 1–2 percent." NOTE THAT DEFIBRILLATION NEEDS TO HAPPEN QUICKLY ...WITHIN 5 MIN.... My heart truly goes out to this man and his family because the thing that really gets me is that we were only FIVE minutes from Phelps and there was an ambulance seen at the race. CRAZY.
Congers Valley Cottage Rotary Club October 23, 2012 at 06:33 pm
the individual, Lenny, who contributed to these postings, is an emt and a well known cpr instructor who teaches life saving techniques to many of the emts, doctors, nurses and teachers in Rockland County. He has fought for this state to adopt laws to be more like Seattle, and hearing what he has to say adds a lot of value to this discussion. Thank you.
Sung Pak October 23, 2012 at 09:29 pm
First of all, my deepest condolences to the family who lost a loved one. I am deeply effected by this incident.
This is a very partial article and I hope the the reporter will research and reports official facts of this incident so that this story is presented more objectively. However, It is apparent, evidenced by reader response, most have already formulated their opinions, though the article does not state official facts to counter or support claims stated in the article. You are all entitled to your comments & opinions. For those who think that the bucket brigade only occurred 200 years ago, I'd ask that you closely examine the current status of volunteer EMS and fire departments in Westchester County, because you will find a sophisticated, well organized, high tech organization. In essence, the bucket brigade of 200 years ago, has become a high tech operation of today. The only thing that has not changed in 200+ years are all the men and women who've dedicate their time by volunteering.
Sung Pak October 23, 2012 at 09:31 pm
No one is arguing that you join the bucket brigade. The bottom line is, if you can help, please help. You can help in several ways. You can make a donation to EMS an fire departments. Speak up and support EMS and fire departments. If you see a car approaching with blue (fire) or green (EMS) flashing lights, know that it's a volunteer heading to quarters to respond to a call. Yield or allow them some space. Get educated and become certified in CPR and first aid. If you see an ambulance or a fire truck, simply give us a wave...it does not go unnoticed. Lastly, if you have some time to spare, join either or both organizations.
I am a resident of Sleepy Hollow, a parent of two and a husband. I work full-time and am a member of the Sleepy Hollow Volunteer Ambulance Corps. It is not unusual for me to sleep with my SHAC pager under my pillow, when I am on call during the overnight hours. I joined to become part of the solution. For all the good Samaritans who helped, I thank you. And again, my condolences to the family who suffered the loss of a loved one. My heart goes out to you.
Krista Madsen (Editor) October 23, 2012 at 09:45 pm
Hi Sung, I really appreciate your feedback and all the work you do for our safety. Just so you know, I have been working very hard to get the "official facts." After repeated calls throughout the day yesterday to the Police Chief and message left with Ambulance Captain, I just heard back from chief (5 p.m. Tues) who says he will be releasing the official timeline of the incident this evening. I have not expressed any opinion in this personally, only the viewpoints of those I interviewed (who made themselves readily available). I did do a follow-up however with an interview with the Lieutenant, http://patch.com/A-yQKw, who still wanted me to get the full deal from the chief... It has not been easy I must say to get the Official Story.
Krista Madsen (Editor) October 23, 2012 at 09:50 pm
Chief just told me he thinks there were 10 officers that day. I will be following soon with more info coming from him.
Johnny October 23, 2012 at 10:53 pm
God bless this poor man and his family. Here's an interesting contrast: One of my neighbors in Sleepy Hollow (just a few houses down from where this poor man died) recently smelled natural gas inside their house. They called the police and asked if someone could come check it out, but they specifically asked not to send all the fire trucks with sirens blazing. No matter, the next thing you know, nine emergency vehicles arrived. Yes, nine -- I counted them. It was complete over-kill. Why is it so hard to get one ambulance to respond to a heart attack, but you can't stop nine emergency vehicles from responding to a suspected gas leak?
Craig Kelly October 24, 2012 at 02:54 am
Johnny,
Unfortunately, you and your neighbors do not get to dictate the amount of resources each call will receive. The emergency services world does not operate by just sending someone out to give an opinion on what they think. If the situation seems to be serious enough that you call the Police / Fire Dept., than you're going to get the Fire Dept. That's what they do. Just wondering what your posts would say if God forbid there was an actual gas leak and just one member showed up to give an opinion and the house blew up. I'm quite sure your opinion would be different. Instead of pretending to know how these things work, find out for yourself.
North Tarrytowner October 24, 2012 at 11:31 am
Krista, I think what Hoffman is asking, and if not, than I'm asking, on a usual day, how many officers patrol our streets and neighborhoods to keep us safe? I would only assume during an event, there would be many. How many are working on a day when there is no event, like a usual Tuesday night, Thursday morning, Friday evening, etc. I've always heard there are three officers, one inside answering phones, and two working patrol. Is that true? If so, she is right, how do we feel safe knowing two officers are maintaining order in this village, especially with the amount of incidents occurring at these local bars? Can you ask that question Krista? Thank you.
North Tarrytowner October 24, 2012 at 11:37 am
I agree. I'd rather nine than one. If one arrived, we would be waiting for that one to make a determination, and then request more resources, which now takes more time. Then BOOM! House is all gone. Johnny that just wasn't smart.
Sung Pak October 24, 2012 at 01:06 pm
Krista, you are correct in saying that you did not express your own opinion personally; however, by selecting particular sound bites and quotes from individuals, you've set the tone of the article and gave direction to the story, which missed the mark of this event being reported objectively. Also, there is a slight hint of sensationalism in this article by shifting the focus away from the unfortunate death of an individual. Follow up articles ought to be used to give additional information of the event; rather than, clarifying prior reporting.
Sung Pak October 24, 2012 at 01:07 pm
Krista, you are correct in saying that you did not express your own opinion personally; however, by selecting particular sound bites and quotes from individuals, you've set the tone of the article and gave direction to the story, which missed the mark of this event being reported objectively. Also, there is a slight hint of sensationalism in this article by shifting the focus away from the unfortunate death of an individual. Follow up articles ought to be used to give additional information of the event; rather than, clarifying prior reporting.
Philipse Manor Runner October 24, 2012 at 05:04 pm
I think it is wrong to place any blame on the volunteers that we all depend on. My mother in law was an EMT for many years and she has told me many stories about the situations she found herself in. To think that people put themselves out there and give their time, energy, and strength for nothing in return is nothing short of admirable and heroic. The problem that seems obvious to me here is that in this day and age there is a break in communications. With a hospital 2 minutes driving distance away and ambulances at various locations, how can it be possible that this man did not receive 'real' help for 20+ minutes. That is RIDICULOUS and inexcusable. It is also unproductive at this point to point fingers and play the blame game. What is productive is to figure out a solution so that this type of thing never happens again. My wife had a great idea to place emergency numbers (phone and text) on every runners BIB that would be a direct contact number for the paramedics and EMT's assigned to the race. This could be done easily and at a very lost cost (if not free) with the amount of available resources today and the technology available. Ambulances and EMTs should have a GPS available so they aren't circling the area looking for a particular address. There is no guarantee that this man's fate would have been different should he have received help faster, but it certainly would have tipped the odds in his favor.
My heart goes to the family and for their loss.
Krista Madsen (Editor) October 24, 2012 at 06:08 pm
Good idea @Philipse Manor Runner about the BIBS info. I think also in order to understand how to do better next time, we do need to know what happened this time. Here's an update on the thorough investigation underway, as ordered by the Village and conducted by Chief Camp: http://patch.com/A-yVk7
Realist October 25, 2012 at 05:07 pm
Sung Pak could not be more correct. This entire event is nothing more than a sad instance of a man with prior coronary issues passing away in a very public venue. Krista Madsen has done a poor job of reporting and clearly wrote the article WELL before any of the true facts were known. It was sensationalist, driven by the erradict and emotional thoughts of those who watched this man die, NOT the actual facts. As later reported by Krista (a common theme on this site), the ME found prior cardiac issues. Mr. Gates chose to participate in a strenuous race and unfortunately suffered horrible consequences. People die from heart attacks EVERY DAY. In fact, heart disease is the #1 killer in the United States. Furthermore, the probability of his survival after cardiac arrest outside of the hospital (as was the case) was AT BEST 18%. There is an article in the New England Journal of Medicine (the most recent issue) stating that the instance of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest only has a 37% chance of being treated with CPR by bystanders. 37% is the best case scenario, according to the article, as the chances are far less if the neighborhood is of a) low socioeconomic class or b) a non-white neighborhood. Therefore, he had the best possible situation by having his MI in a white, upper class area. Before people call me racist, read the article. http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1110700. EMS responded promptly, he got CPR minutes after going down, but his chances were still dismal.
Krista Madsen (Editor) October 25, 2012 at 05:15 pm
Realist, I cannot wait for all the facts to come out before I start my reporting, such is this medium and why it's so dynamic. Citizen/witnesses and their reaction and version of the events is also significant part of the story and that's the first part that came. Obviously other sides will take longer and I will offer them as they come: the investigation will, I'm sure, temper much of this initial emotion. Today I am posting information in a short while on Gates' funeral arrangements, as some have expressed interest. A fund for his children is being created and I will update on that as well when it comes.
Krista Madsen (Editor) October 25, 2012 at 06:41 pm
@NTowner, I will ask, it's a good question and I think that's right - most likely 2 on duty, one at the phones.
Sung Pak October 25, 2012 at 06:44 pm
Krista Madsen states, “…such is this medium and why it’s so dynamic”. This type of medium is exactly the reason why it’s so important that greater scrutiny be given to reporting an incident, with the utmost objective point of view and completeness. Krista Madsen also states, “Citizen/witnesses and their reaction and version of the events is also significant part of the story and that's the first part that came.” Contrary to the title of the original article, the citizen / witness reaction WAS the story. And if, “that’s the first part that came” as Krista Madsen indicates, the reporting is partial. Krista Madsen also writes, “Obviously other sides will take longer and I will offer them as they come: the investigation will, I'm sure, temper much of this initial emotion”. Knowing the ‘other side’ will take longer in their findings, Krista Madsen jumped the gun in her reporting and I do not agree that the investigation will temper initial emotions. It’s the initial impact of the original story that will linger. Again, my deepest condolences to the runner’s family and I hope such discussions have not hampered your search for comfort.
Krista Madsen (Editor) October 25, 2012 at 06:47 pm
I certainly hear and respect what you're saying, Sung. I wonder if others feel the same about the need to wait until all facts emerge before reporting on this?
Congers Valley Cottage Rotary Club October 25, 2012 at 07:18 pm
I hope we can learn something from all of this. First, I am no doctor, nor am I an EMT. I am a runner. I have learned about cardiac arrest from a good friend who teaches CPR for a living.
First, those who are EMT's who volunteer for the amublance corps in our communities are heroes. They give up time to try to serve the community by saving lives. In August of 2011, my life was saved by the Congers Valley Cottage ambulance crew so i have the utmost respect for these individuals. I was involved in a bicycle accident and suffered severe head and facial injuries. Now, back to my point. More facts will come out in the coming days, and many of them may take focus off what we as citizens can control and what we cannot. If this runner went into sudden cardiac arrest, which is what i believe happened here, whether an ambulance got there in 8 minutes or 12 minutes or whatever amount of minutes, it may not have been the most critical factor in this story. This story is about a man who died to young, and education of sudden cardiac arrest and CPR. When someone goes into sudden cardiac arrest, the most important thing is getting the victim CPR immediately.... In those minutes we wait for the ambulance. We should not be looking to blame for things we can't control and we should all focus on what we can control, and we can all learn CPR in less than a half day by becoming certified. Thank you
Krista Madsen (Editor) October 25, 2012 at 07:20 pm
Thanks for that point Seidey, I agree and this whole commentary surrounding the story has been educational on that front - a real wake-up call for people to go learn CPR.
MARGIE LANG October 25, 2012 at 07:41 pm
I don't think not reporting is the answer. We need to be kept abreast of what is happening. Let's just all try not to rush to judgement.
Krista Madsen (Editor) November 5, 2012 at 11:44 pm
Just an update that this report has not yet come from the SHPD.
Krista Madsen (Editor) November 26, 2012 at 01:17 pm
Chief has issued this report on the timeline to the Board of Trustees, now released to the public: http://patch.com/A-zMXJ

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