Angela Warmuth
Kirkland, Washington
On Jan. 17, 2010, Angela Warmuth, 42, drove to Moclips, Wash. to join her friend Quentin in celebrating his 50th birthday. The next morning they went for a walk on Pacific Beach. A record 4.5-inch rainfall left the ocean exceptionally choppy and high. Warmuth, a certified public accountant and avid hiker from Kirkland, enjoyed being in nature and feeling the ocean’s spray. She and Quentin stepped on a log to watch the waters rage.
“We were standing on a log on the beach just looking at the water when a wave hit the log. The log kind of rolled up and over me forward and backward. As the water went in and out, it ended up pinning me down, face first in the water. I lost consciousness. I was literally drowning.”
Warmuth’s friend Quentin, although injured and barely able to walk himself, tried to move the log. The log, which was “as big as a totem pole—15-feet to 20-feet long,” would not budge. Fortunately, a passerby witnessed their predicament and helped Quentin move the log off of Warmuth and called for help.
Floating in and out of consciousness, Warmuth remembered her initial coldness and terror. “I remember them pulling me out of the water to the little part of the beach that was left,” she said. “I couldn’t see anything because I had so much sand in my eyes. I was petrified because I couldn’t see. I had ingested so much sand and seawater.” she said. “I was also almost hypothermic. I was covered in seawater and I had all those clothes on me. I was so cold.”
About 40 minutes later, a local ambulance arrived. The emergency medical team stabilized Warmuth’s spine and neck, warmed her, and transported her to Grays Harbor Community Hospital. Physicians at the community hospital realized that Warmuth’s injuries were so extensive and complex that she would need the services of Harborview Medical Center, the region’s only Level 1 adult and pediatric trauma center. They called Airlift Northwest to make the transport.
“We got paged by the dispatch center for a transport from Grays Harbor Community Hospital,” said Michael Durkin, one of two critical care flight nurses on the helicopter. “We took off from our base in Olympia. We were at the scene and transporting Angela within 30 minutes.”
Shannon Larson, the other nurse on the flight, said Warmuth had sustained multiple injuries. “She suffered a left rib fracture, a collapsed left lung, a laceration over her right eye and a right orbital fracture [and broken nose], and a lacerated liver, and right arm dislocation. In flight, we kept her warm, gave her fluids, and pain and anti-nausea medicines.”
Dr. David Baker, ALNW medical director, said Airlift Northwest provides patients with comprehensive medical care, from pick up to medical destination,
“Our Airlift Northwest crews do not simply transport patients, we deliver the clinical expertise of UW Medicine to the patient’s bedside or to an accident scene, and we continue that care until the patient can get definitive treatment,” Baker said.
Within about 45 minutes of her pick up from Grays Harbor Community Hospital, Warmuth was admitted to Harborview Medical Center. Warmuth said surgeons immediately “spent over an hour and a half sewing up my face” to repair the multiple lacerations she sustained.
Over the course of her stay at Harborview, physicians determined that Warmuth had suffered several strokes, a dissected carotid artery, and pelvic fractures as well. Warmuth said she received expert care from a team of UW Medicine physicians at Harborview, including neurosurgeons, ophthalmologists, internists, physical and occupational therapists, and speech therapists on her road to recovery. She was released after 26 days in the hospital and continues to be seen as an outpatient.
“It’s a miraculous recovery,” Warmuth said. “Look at me, after nearly drowning and being completely paralyzed on my right side, I can move my fingers; I can stand; I can walk. I’m in the process of learning to use my computer again. My goal is to get back to hiking. I think that would be awesome therapy. But, right now I’m just working on walking around the block. Timing is everything. I still need time to heal, but I’m so grateful to be alive, no doubt about it.”
“Angela’s story speaks volumes about what makes us proud to be a part of Airlift Northwest and UW Medicine,” Baker said. “While Angela’s recovery may seem miraculous, it is not uncommon for us at Airlift Northwest to care for patients with seemingly unsurvivable injuries who ultimately go on to lead very functional lives.”
From Grays Harbor Community Hospital (Aberdeen,
WA) to Harborview Medical Center (Seattle, WA)
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patient and partner stories here)
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