San Angelo police and fire rescue personnel pulled a drowning man out of the Concho River early Saturday morning at 2:35 a.m.
Police said that there were a few people fishing and swimming on and around Celebration Bridge behind the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts when the man fell off the bridge and into the river. He then disappeared. The witnesses assumed that he went under water.
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“Several police officers and firefighters jumped into the water to search for him,” San Angelo Police Sgt. Daniel Williams said. He was found after a short time and pulled out. But he was unconscious. Paramedics performed CPR on the drowning victim for about 30 minutes, somewhat stabilizing him for transport to Shannon Medical Center.
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Williams said that the witnesses told police that the group on Celebration Bridge were fishing and swimming. Williams said those investigating are not ruling out alcohol as being a contributing factor in the drowning. The identity of the victim, an adult man, is pending notification of his next-of-kin.
Update 4 p.m.
San Angelo police identified the man who was rescued. He subsequently died at the hospital. More here.
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See, this is something that always bothers me. As quoted, "Paramedics performed CPR on the drowning victim for about 30 minutes".... Why do our paramedics think they are better than doctors ? What would be wrong with, load the victim on a stretcher, begin CPR, transport the victim the 3 minutes it would take to run from there to Shannon ER, and let the proper medical people take over who have just a few more advanced tools, equipment and drugs than the paramedics have for 30 minutes out on the river bank ? ? ?
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PermalinkThe reason they can't move the person to the hospital is because if they are doing CPR that means the person is deceased. You don't perform CPR if the person is alive. The person should be alive before they move them from the scene, otherwise the JP pronounces them on the scene.
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PermalinkI don't know why anyone would want to swim in that nasty water. If a person is going to swim in that water at all, please do it in daylight hours, not 2:30am. That being said, I Pray he recovers.
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PermalinkHey doc, studies have showed that good quality CPR and early defibrillation is what saves lives more than anything. During the loading and transport of a pt cpr suffers the most because of all the pt movement. Another point is paramedics do everything on scene that they do in the hospital for a code, so why delay treatment. Lastly paramedics follow protocols that tell them when they can and can't perform procedures, including recommended times for working a code before transport is considered. These are written by the medical director who is a doctor.
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PermalinkVery good explanation. I think that the first responders do an excellent job and have saved many lives that would not have made it otherwise. Thank you for your services.
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