A Life is Saved Through Emergency Angioplasty At Trinitas

On December 27th, Gerry Simpson, a 61 year-old driver and auto parts store worker, was relaxing with his wife Katherine at their home in Elizabeth. Although he had no history of heart problems, he became concerned when he began sweating excessively and feeling ill. Immediately, he and his wife jumped in the car and Gerry drove himself to Trinitas Regional Medical Center, a short five-minute drive away.

Once they entered the Emergency Department, Gerry remembers nothing more. As he waited with Katherine in one of the treatment rooms, he complained of chest pain and then collapsed on the floor. His monitor showed a flatline.

"I said to the Emergency Department doctor, 'please don't let him die,'" remembers Katherine. "They were able to revive him, and they called in Dr. Preet Randhawa and began prepping him for emergency angioplasty."

Preet Randhawa, MD, Chief of Interventional Cardiology at Trinitas, is in charge of the hospital's new Emergency Angioplasty service. "Gerry's right coronary artery was completely blocked," says Dr. Randhawa. "The mortality on this type of condition is very high without an intervention such as emergency angioplasty."

While Gerry and Katherine traveled up in an elevator to the surgical suite, he once again went into cardiac arrest. Dr. Randhawa shocked him back, and then quickly prepped him for an emergency angioplasty. Once in the Cath Lab, a stent was placed in his coronary artery. He recovered quickly, and was home by New Year's Day.

"It was a miracle that Trinitas had just started performing emergency angioplasty a short time before I needed it," says Gerry. "I never would have made it if we had to go to another hospital. It was truly a miracle that Dr. Randhawa and Dr. Jasjit Walia were there for me."

Katherine raves about the excellent care her husband received at Trinitas, from nurses and doctors through main-tenance personnel. But the best sign is that they are both looking to the future.

"Gerry is looking forward to going back to work," says Katherine. "And we're both looking forward to getting outside and starting a walking program."


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