Cardiac Arrest Patient Returns to Colorado to Thank the Teams that Saved his Life

In March 2016, Peter Roskovich was snowboarding the back bowls of Vail on Sleepytime Road when he suddenly collapsed and went into cardiac arrest.

Vail Ski Patrol was quickly on the scene and got an automated external defibrillator down to him in 3 minutes, restoring his pulses. They used a snowmobile to transport him out of the back bowls to the top of the mountain where a team skied him down the front.

Dr. Greenberg, cardiologist at Vail Valley Medical Center, happened to be skiing that day and stepped in to help, which included commandeering a bus to take him to the Vail Valley Medical Center Cath Lab in preparation for Peter’s arrival.

In the cath lab, Dr. Greenberg and his team performed a lifesaving procedure, placing a balloon pump in his aorta and a stent in one of the main arteries of his heart.

Due to weather constraints, Peter was transferred to Presbyterian/St. Luke’s (P/SL) via ground transport by Eagle County Paramedic Services.

Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz, ICU physician at P/SL, recalls the “thumbs up” Peter gave when he was warmed to a normal body temperature from a hypothermic state.

Thanks to Vail Mountain Ski Patrol, Eagle County Paramedic Services, Dr. Greenberg and the Vail Valley Medical Center Cath Lab team and the ICU team at P/SL, Peter not only survived the “widow maker, “ he went home neurologically intact. To learn more about services offered at Presbyterian/St. Luke's, please visit https://pslmc.com/.