Imagine you are playing a round of golf on the Grandezza golf course when an emergency strikes. One of your golfing partners is down. Is it cardiac arrest, hyperthermia, or a reaction to an insect bite? Seconds count. Jump into action! Tap your stricken partner hard on the shoulder and yell loudly! If they don’t move, speak, blink, or otherwise react, or if they are not breathing or only gasping for air, call 911. Give the dispatcher the golf course’s name, the hole number, and whether you are on the tee box, fairway, or green. Within seconds of your call, Estero Fire Rescue, with arrival times under seven minutes, is on the way.
Immediately begin chest compressions (push hard, push deep push fast, at rate of 100 to 120 per minute), and call our Pro Shop or clubhouse. Club personnel will dispatch a “ranger” with an automatic external defibrillator (AED). While waiting, keep the chest compressions going. Because chest compressions are tiring, have someone else jump in. Take turns.
How does EMS locate you? I posed this question to Jennifer Krohnfeldt, Estero Fire Rescue Community Education Specialist. She explained that her husband, Fire Lieutenant Jerry Krohnfeldt has walked every golf course in Estero, including Grandezza, to verify access points for all 18 holes. Estero Fire Rescue has a Geographic Information System (GIS) map created by Lee County that details 8,000 Sudden Golf Course Emergency BRIAN D. HURWITZ, PH.D. (HASTINGS ON HUDSON, NY VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT EMT) mapped access points at all 108 Lee County golf courses. Fire departments conducted walkthroughs and drive- throughs of each course to verify that the designated access points are accessible. Fire and EMS crews also performed mock drills to test response times using the mapped coordinates.
The coordinates were uploaded into the Lee County 911 dispatch system. Now when you call 911 dispatchers, they can cross-reference your GPS location with the pre-mapped emergency coordinates displayed on a screen in front of them and will guide first responders to you with pinpoint accuracy.
For example, if you are on the number four fairway at Grandezza, the dispatcher’s view shows the corresponding home addresses along Markward Crossing in Grande Estates, with access points to the hole No. 4 fairway and to your mobile phone’s GPS location. Every home address along Markward Crossing has been checked to make sure there are no obstacles through backyards closest to you.
Similarly, according to Lee County’s GIS maps, at the Eagle Ridge Golf Course, the No. 10 fairway corresponds to 7627 Eaglet Ct., with notes indicating “on the golf course behind the address” to facilitate a swift response from EMS. If the AED dispatched by the Pro Shop or club gets to you before Estero Fire Rescue, do not be afraid to use it. An AED, or automated external defibrillator, can restore the heart’s normal rhythm during an incident of sudden cardiac arrest. It will walk you through the necessary steps to deliver the lifesaving shock to restore your friend’s heart to a normal rhythm. Although such an emergency occurring on our golf course is unlikely, being prepared can make all the difference.
