Quick thinking and strong partnerships save Dade City farmer’s life

DADE CITY, Fla. — What started as a routine day working around his farm nearly turned tragic for 66-year-old Johnnie Bozeman.

Thanks to the swift actions of Pasco County Fire Rescue and the care team at AdventHealth Dade City, Bozeman is alive today and sharing his story with the hope that it helps others.

"Don't argue with people if they're looking at you from the outside," Bozeman said during an emotional reunion with the first responders and hospital staff who helped save his life. "They're looking at you and going, 'Oh buddy, you need help.' I think they might be right. Take the help. Don't wait and see it out. If they say you need to go, go. You can gripe later."

On Jan. 31, Bozeman was working on his farm, repeatedly chasing livestock back into their enclosure and repairing a damaged fence. He returned to his house feeling unusually hot and short of breath.

"I got in the house and started sweating really bad," Bozeman said. "I pulled my shirt off and was just drenched."

His wife immediately noticed something was wrong.

"She looked at me and said, 'Do you want me to take you to the hospital?' I told her I didn't know. I started walking toward the bathroom, and she saw the sweat running off me. She said, 'I'm calling 911.'"

Pasco County Fire Rescue crews arrived and began evaluating Bozeman. Despite his complaints of mild chest pain and dizziness, the initial EKG readings didn't clearly indicate a heart attack.

"He was complaining about a little bit of chest pain and dizziness. That was it," said Pasco County Fire Rescue Paramedic Trevor Gibson. "We had no idea what was about to happen. I'm glad his wife called. I'm glad he agreed to go with us. I'm glad we took the extra time."

As paramedics reviewed multiple EKG strips, something didn't sit right.

"I could tell they weren't happy with what they were seeing," Bozeman said. "They kept looking at it, passing it around, running it again. One of the guys finally said, 'If you were my grandfather, I'd tell you to go with us just to be safe.'"

That decision would prove lifesaving when everything changed once he was loaded into the ambulance.

"Thirty seconds to a minute after we got him into the truck, the monitor didn't look right," Gibson said. "He said he was getting dizzy, and that's when we realized he was having a heart attack."

The EMS crew rapidly changed course, started lifesaving measures in the ambulance and alerted AdventHealth Dade City that a critical patient was on the way.

By the time Bozeman arrived at the emergency department, the hospital team was already preparing.

"We knew he had a STEMI by the time he got to us," said Danica DeBerry the nurse manager of the ER at AdventHealth Dade City. "The ambulance alerted us ahead of time. We had our EKG machine ready and the room prepared. As soon as he arrived, we confirmed the STEMI and called the cardiologist."

Bozeman was rushed into treatment, where physicians placed coronary stents to restore blood flow to his heart.

The seamless transition from the field to the emergency room highlights the critical partnership between EMS and hospital teams.

"We are very proud of our working relationship with EMS," DeBerry said. "For us to do our job, it takes them doing theirs. Having that trust and communication really helps the patients in the end."

Bozeman is doing well, taking medication, and enjoying life with a renewed appreciation for the people who helped save it.

On June 8, he got the chance to thank the teams that saved him that day.

During the reunion, AdventHealth Dade City presented members of Pasco County Fire Rescue with a Life-Saving Award in recognition of their rapid assessment, critical decision-making and extraordinary teamwork.

"I think it's kind of a general thing," Gibson said. "My dad would tell you the same thing. We do it because we love the job. We love helping people. I have a really great crew, and we have great partners we work with. That makes the job easy and makes it nice."

For Bozeman, the reunion was an opportunity to thank the people who gave him a second chance and to encourage others not to ignore warning signs.