{"id":412578,"date":"2026-07-26T03:42:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T03:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/412578\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T03:42:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T03:42:10","slug":"sudden-cardiac-arrest-survivor-reunites-with-coronado-first-responders-and-sharp-memorial-staff-who-saved-his-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/412578\/","title":{"rendered":"Sudden cardiac arrest survivor reunites with Coronado first responders and Sharp Memorial staff who saved his life"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Chief Brian Harris with Dr. Christopher Ho, the emergency physician who took the lead on his care at Sharp Memorial. Photo: Sharp Memorial Hospital.<\/p>\n

Nearly three months after suffering a sudden cardiac arrest while attending a conference in Coronado, Brian Harris, Chief of the Catawba Nation in South Carolina, returned to Fire Station 36 on Saturday morning to personally thank the Coronado paramedics, firefighters, and the Sharp Memorial medical team whose quick actions helped save his life.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Chief Harris shares a hug with one of the Coronado paramedic firefighters who responded to the medical call April 30. Photo: Sharp Memorial Hospital<\/p>\n

On April 30, in Coronado for a conference, Harris wasn\u2019t feeling well and stepped outside for fresh air, where he collapsed on a sidewalk. A witness, who happened to be an off-duty police officer, immediately called 911 and began CPR before Coronado Fire Department paramedics arrived.<\/p>\n

Responders recognized that Harris met the criteria for San Diego County\u2019s Extracorporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (ECPR) pilot program. Instead of being transported to the nearest emergency department, he was taken directly to Sharp Memorial Hospital, one of five county hospitals equipped to provide emergency extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a treatment that temporarily takes over the work of the heart and lungs while physicians address the underlying cause of the sudden cardiac arrest.<\/p>\n

According to Sharp Memorial Hospital, Harris had received CPR for 67 minutes before arriving at the hospital, where physicians initiated ECMO to help save his life. Nine days later, he was able to walk out of the hospital.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Chief Harris is introduced to the Coronado paramedic firefighters who responded to the call. Photo: Sharp Memorial Hospital<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s reunion brought together many of the people involved in Harris\u2019 rescue and care. During the ceremony at Fire Station 36, Harris thanked the Coronado firefighter-paramedics who responded that day, embraced members of his medical team from Sharp Memorial Hospital, and presented them with copies of a proclamation of thanks from the Catawba Nation along with commemorative challenge coins.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Chief Harris presents all those who helped save his life with special copies of a proclamation of thanks from the Catawba Nation, as well as specially made challenge coins. Photo: Sharp Memorial Hospital<\/p>\n

Dr. Christopher Ho, who led Harris\u2019 emergency care at Sharp Memorial, was among those attending the reunion.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is why we do what we do. This is sort of the pinnacle of our experience,\u201d Ho said. \u201cWe don\u2019t get to see that many survivors. We don\u2019t often get to see something where the training, the work, and the hours we put in result in such a dramatic success story.\u201d<\/p>\n

During Chief Harris\u2019 visit to San Diego, he also stopped by Sharp Memorial Hospital on Friday afternoon to thank the doctors and nurses who cared for him.<\/p>\n

The San Diego County ECPR pilot program, launched in 2023, is designed for select patients experiencing sudden cardiac arrest who may benefit from advanced ECMO treatment. Harris\u2019 recovery serves as an example of the coordinated efforts between bystanders, first responders, and specialized hospital teams that can make survival possible in even the most critical cases.<\/p>\n

ECMO is a technique that removes, oxygenates, and returns the patient\u2019s blood, essentially filling the role of the heart and lungs while giving the medical team time to address the underlying causes of sudden cardiac arrest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chief Brian Harris with Dr. Christopher Ho, the emergency physician who took the lead on his care at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":412579,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[74,76,75],"class_list":["post-412578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=412578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/412579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=412578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=412578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=412578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}