Strong links in chain of survival give heart attack victim second chance

HERSHEY, Pa. — When Penn State Children’s Hospital pediatrics nurse Marty Woodfin changed her walking routine from her neighborhood to the medical campus last July, she had no idea that decision would save her life — literally.

“It could have so easily been the end of my story that day,” said Woodfin, whose plan was to walk the path around the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center before going home to nap and work nightshift in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

Woodfin, 56, who has no health risks for cardiac arrest, was on the portion of the path that runs along Governor Road when she collapsed in view of passing traffic on Route 322.

“What happened on that day was a ‘perfect storm’ in the chain of survival, where all the links worked,” said Scott Buchle, Life Lion Emergency Medical Services (EMS) program manager. “They say it takes a village to raise a child. We say it take a small village of first responders to save a life.”

Lancaster County natives Samantha and Austin Lodish were on their way home to North Carolina that morning and, strangely, their GPS had taken them through Hershey instead of their normal turnpike route.

“I saw this woman collapse, and I told my husband, ‘Stop the car!’ It was hot that day, and I thought maybe she collapsed from heat,” said Samantha Lodish, who immediately called 911.

“I checked for a pulse and felt none. Instinct kicked in, and I started CPR,” said Austin Lodish, who is an emergency room technician but says he had never been in such a high-intensity situation before.

Derry Township Police Sgt. Eric Singiser happened to be three blocks away when the call came in. He was on the scene in less than four minutes, with automated external defibrillator in hand to shock Woodfin’s heart back into rhythm. As the Life Lion EMS crew converged, Woodfin went back into cardiac arrest. They shocked her again and provided needed IVs and medications.

Read more about Marty Woodfin’s chain of survival on Penn State Medicine.