CLEARLAKE >> They are sometimes plain-spoken people whose extraordinary feats deserve vigorous applause for their selfless acts which mean the most to the Lake County community, preserving the lives that add much to the county’s quality of life.
Lower Lake resident Jesse Cude was just a few hours away from a hunting trip destination with a hunting pal when fate intervened and compelled him donate his time and expertise that actually contributed to saving the life of a stranger, partly owing to a spur of the moment invitation to attend a Veterans of Foreign Wars event. On his way with a friend to Shell Lake, Saskatchewan in the parking lot of the motel where the pair unloaded luggage for the lay over in Malta, Montana a one-time thriving mining city, stopped to have dinner and bunk down.
Also present at their arrival were a couple of delegates of the state’s VFW convention who invited Cude and his companion to join them at the VFW Hall meeting. Cude thought it a pleasant way to end a day of travel but his friend was fatigued and retired for the evening. Nursing a beer, only a half hour passed when Cude was aware of a commotion at a nearby table and when he looked over saw a man slumped over the tabletop.
As a 30-year veteran policeman (Santa Rosa) recently retired, Cude’s instinctual mode kicked in and he decide to investigate. The man splayed across the table had a heart attack and one of the bystanders said he did not have a heartbeat. “I could see nobody knew what to do so, I started CPR,” he said. He was at it for 20 minutes he was told later. “That’s a long time, It was a deep-tissue massage- a lot of work and I was really sore yet I’m in good shape,” he recalled. Meanwhile, one of the other witnesses called 911. A Sheriff’s deputy arrived within a couple of minutes, and he tried using an automated external defibrillator (AED), a portable device that can be used to treat a person whose heart has suddenly stopped working. AEDs are available in many public places, such as government buildings, schools, airports and other community spaces. light weight, AEDs are available without a prescription for use at home.
The deputy tried to pump the heart back to regular rhythm withough initial success. So, he took over the CPR until an ambulance arrived where the victim was stabilized and taken to a local hospital, then air evacuated to a level five trauma center in Billings, Montana. The VFW National Citation Life Saving Award ceremony took place at the VFW District 16, Post 2337 on August 24. Master of ceremonies was Irl Moorehouse, commander of Post 2337. Moorehouse thanked the 30 guests present for their attendance and introduced Darrol Prill, commander of District 16, Department of California.
“We’re pleased to have the opportunity to recognize the individual who just happened to be at right place at the right time, and is cause for much elevated level of appreciation,” Prill told the audience. “Your (nodding to Cude) immediate and effective response will long serve as an inspiration to others in the community and especially to the members of the VFW. Prill then read a letter from the man whose live was saved that day in Malta, Timothy B. Hughes.
In part Hughes thanked the bystanders from that day, including Cude. “I had no heartbeat. Shocking my heart, they were bringing me back to life,” he went on. “Shocking my heart was not working so, they had to repeat it eight times to resuscitate me.” Once at the trauma center in Billings, Hughes had a stent inserted in the clogged artery interfering with his circulation. “Saving my life can be attributed to the quick action of five people: James Layton, Fred Hamilton, Jesse Cude, Darleen Cummings and Joshua Newman, he said. “Had it not been for their quick action, I would not be live today.”
Cude would like to remind Lake County residents there are several communities who offer free CPR instruction. “If everybody could get trained in CPR, you would have this (successful track record) a lot more often, he said. “There’s free training throughout Lake County.”
