Heavenly workers recognized for saving man’s life
Several Heavenly Mountain Resort employees were honored May 17 for saving the life of a skier in January.
Kevin Coyne of Walnut Creek had a heart attack in the lift line at Comet Express on Jan. 18.
Alan Payne, assistant manager for Heavenly’s Nevada Lift Operations, retrieved the AED unit from East Peak Lodge, while first-year ski patroller Grey Grandy took over CPR from Payne’s girlfriend, Karen. Responding ski patrol staff included Chris Grasso, Brandon Commanda, Jason Scott, Ashley Daw, Chris Child, Ryan McPartland, Justin Keys, and Luke Voss, in addition to Mike Orr from mountain safety.
Ski patrollers transported Coyne down Nevada Trail to the Boulder area, where Tahoe Douglas firefighters initiated advanced life support before Care Flight transported the patient to Renown Medical Center in Reno.
The quick action of the employees saved Coyne’s life, which allowed him to walk his daughter down the aisle this spring. He is also looking forward to his own nuptials in October.
Coyne returned to Heavenly this week in honor of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Week (May 17-23). Care Flight and Phillips, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of automated external defibrillators, presented an award to the team who assisted in saving Coyne’s life.
great ending!
well done by those involved!
RIGHT ON HEAVENLY SKI PATROL!!! TAKE NOTE VAIL…YOU ARE VERY LUCKY TO HAVE SUCH AWESOME PEOPLE WORKING ON SKI PATROL. And not to mention Alan Payne who got the AED on the man quickly! AED’s and quick good quality CPR saves lives folks. These cardiac incidents on the mountains rarely end up with a good ending…unfortunately. What a great story.
MAKE SURE YOU THANK A FIREFIGHTER, PARAMEDIC, FLIGHT NURSE, POLICE OFFICER OR AN EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT WORKER FOR EMS WEEK THIS WEEK!
WE ARE VERY LUCKY TO HAVE SUCH AN AWESOME EMS TEAM IN THE BASIN