Like any usual day, Warren Salzman of Normal was exercising at Carle Health & Fitness Center in Bloomington on Feb. 28, 2020. But this turned out to be a day like no other.
Salzman suffered a sudden cardiac arrest at the fitness center and thanks to a quick response from the staff and bystanders, he made a full recovery.
Carle Health & Fitness Center has now declared Feb. 28 to be Warren Salzman Day. To celebrate, the gym invites members and the community at large to an open house on Tuesday, where they can participate in health screenings and educational activities related to heart health.
Warren Salzman has lifted weights most of his life and exercises regularly. Three years ago, he set out to achieve a cardio goal.
“One of my goals was to do 100 flights on the stair climber, which I managed to do that day,” he said. “I got off and was patting myself on the back. That’s the last thing I remember.”
Beth Petersen is a registered nurse who works across the street from Carle Health & Fitness Center. Her routine lunchtime walk on the track was interrupted on Feb. 28, 2020, when she discovered Salzman. He was unresponsive.
“We decided to come over later that day than normal,” Petersen said. As she and a friend climbed the stairs to the track, a woman mentioned that someone appeared to not feel well. It was Salzman.
“We put our coats down and walked around the track. By then, he was already on the ground,” Petersen said.
Petersen’s walking buddy happens to be pediatrician Dr. Andrea Kane, who took control of the scene.
“When I saw that Warren was face down on the ground, I instructed Beth to run and call for an emergency,” she said. “I turned Warren over and felt for a pulse. At the time he had a weak pulse and was agonally breathing (short of breath).”
Salzman lost his pulse and an Automated External Defibrillator (AED), which can assess heart rhythms, determined he needed a shock. Dr. Kane performed CPR and another shock was delivered before Bloomington Fire arrived to attend to the scene.
“We had a whole team there; it was great. The response time was quick,” she said.
Warren Salzman has had two previous heart surgeries, the most recent of which was a valve replacement. He said a complication from that surgery is what led to this event. It's also the reason he chose to become a member at Carle Health & Fitness.
“Apparently there were some mistakes made,” he said. “Something went wrong and my left ventricle was damaged. I went into heart failure and had scar tissue on my heart that wasn’t there before that surgery.”
Doctors told Salzman he could exercise his way out of heart failure in six months to a year. Salzman pushed the limits. Four months post-surgery, he was no longer in heart failure, but exercising too hard also contributed to the cardiac arrest.
“I can only put so much pressure or expectations on my heart now,” he said.
Lest you think this story is an excuse to swear off that treadmill, Carle Health & Fitness Center executive director Catherine Porter says exercise is almost always more helpful than harmful.
“Exercise is a stress, and it’s a good stress,” Porter said. “But there are inherent risks in exercise. Cardiac arrest is one of them. It happens very rarely.”
Porter recommends finding a safe place to exercise and consulting a physician before engaging in an exercise program, especially for those who have had previous cardiovascular health problems. Carle Health & Fitness Center is considered a medical fitness center, meaning all the staff have advanced training and credentials to manage fitness programs for individuals in various stages of health.
“We train for medical events,” Porter said. “We have a whole system and a response team. We go through CPR training on a quarterly basis. In the event that something like this happens, everybody has a role, and they know what to do.”
Personal trainer Jenna Souhrada had just finished a session with another client when Salzman collapsed.
“I was at our fitness desk and I see a member come to the top of the stairs, not really vocalizing what was happening, but you could tell it was not good,” Souhrada said. She and another trainer grabbed a first aid bag and AED and ran to the track.
“I’ve never been more thankful to see Beth and Dr. Kane,” said Souhrada.
Despite their medical expertise, Dr. Kane, a pediatrician, and registered nurse Beth Petersen do not work in emergency medicine.
“I’ve been a nurse for almost 24 years, and I’ve never done CPR,” Petersen said. “I’ve worked in a mother/baby unit and an office. So I definitely was a little freaked out.”
Kane has previously stepped in for one other resuscitation – on an airplane on her honeymoon.
“Afterwards, when you’re decompressing, that’s when you start to feel those emotions.”
Kane said she understood that it can be difficult to act cool under pressure.
“Know that you are saving them,” she said. “You are their only chance at saving them.”
Salzman did not know Petersen or Kane prior to Feb. 28, 2020. The two women are now a permanent fixture in his life story.
“It’s hard to put into words the emotions when you do realize that these are the people who saved your life,” he said. “It gave me a second chance. Saying ‘thank you’ didn’t seem – but I think they all knew how I felt.”
Carle Health & Fitness Center commemorates Warren Salzman Day from 9-11 a.m. and 4-6 p.m.on Tuesday, Feb. 28, with free blood pressure screenings and fitness tests. Visitors also can receive discounted cholesterol and glucose tests and attend information sessions about early heart attack care and using automatic external defibrillators.
As part of the festivities, nurse educators from Carle’s stroke program will be on site at Carle Health & Fitness Center from 4-6 p.m. to answer questions about stroke prevention. Guests of honor Warren Salzman, Beth Petersen and Dr. Andrea Kane will stop by around lunchtime.
