Methodist Health System | Methodist Charlton Medical Center | Shine | Spring 2015

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Methodist Charlton Medical Center • ❁ Spring 2015 13
HOW’S YOUR HEART DOING?
Find out if your heart is in danger of heart disease Take our quiz at
Larry Pipkins is a “car guy.”
“I have race cars. I build race cars. I race
race cars,” he says. “It’s something my daddy
and I shared since I was 10 years old.”
But one day in June 2013, what was racing was
Larry’s heart.
He had just gotten out of the shower after doing some
yard work. All of a sudden, he started sweating profusely
and struggled to catch his breath.
“It felt like there was an elephant sitting on my chest,
the pressure was so great,” he says.
His wife, Paula, came in to find him lying on the floor.
Larry told her to call 911.
A fast heart attack response
Duncanville Fire paramedics rushed Larry to Methodist
Charlton Medical Center, where he was diagnosed with
a 100 percent blockage in his left anterior descending
coronary artery — what doctors have nicknamed a
“widow maker” for its deadliness.
Methodist Charlton has been recognized for its fast
heart attack treatment times by the American Heart
Association Dallas Caruth Initiative.
“I tell you, the experience that I had was so unbelievably
smooth,” Larry says. “When those guys delivered me to
the emergency department, it was God orchestrating every
person who had anything to do with my care. There were
angels all around me doing their thing.”
One of those angels was Manish Patel, MD, FACC,
interventional cardiologist at Methodist Charlton, who
performed a cardiac catheterization procedure to restore
blood flow to Larry’s heart.
“Because heart and vascular disease is the major cause
of death and disability in our community, Methodist
Charlton has committed to providing high-quality
cardiovascular services,” Dr. Patel says.
He says the team works with organized, streamlined
processes to make sure each heart attack patient is treated
correctly and within the national goal of 90 minutes. In
Larry’s case, the time was 50 minutes.
Living with a mission
Once Larry arrived in recovery, Dr. Patel came to check
on him.
“If you quit smoking …,” Dr. Patel started, but before
he could finish the sentence, Larry fist-bumped him and
said, “I’m done smoking.” He hasn’t smoked since, and
after he completed cardiac rehabilitation, he continued
to exercise and eat well.
Larry gives all the glory to God for sending the team
at Methodist Charlton to save his life. He hopes that the
life he lives echoes the love and peace he has experienced
through his faith and at the hands of his caregivers.
“There are some people in this world who realize that
God gave them talent and what they’re supposed to do
with it; others have talent but are misusing it,” he says.
“The people at Methodist Charlton clearly understand
why God gave them their talent. They’re using it to care
for people, and He’s happy about that. All I can say is
thank you and that I love them.”
on his side
Larry Pipkins thanks God that he was brought
to Methodist Charlton when a heart attack struck
Setting records, saving lives
Methodist Charlton Medical Center recently set a
record for fast heart attack care with a door-to-
balloon (D2B) time of just 13 minutes.
D2B time is measured from the patient’s arrival
in the emergency department to the opening
of the blocked artery after a severe heart attack.
Thirteen minutes is a record not only for Methodist
Charlton but also for southern Dallas County.
Methodist Charlton’s average D2B time is 54 minutes,
which beats the national average of 60 minutes.
Thanks go to Dallas Fire-Rescue 46 for their
teamwork in making the record possible.