Quick action by a San Diego Convention Center fire marshal saved a life after a decorator working on an exhibit collapsed from an apparent heart attack last week.
Fire marshal Tamarah Castaneda heard calls for help from her office and administered CPR until an exhibit worker arrived with an automatic external defibrillator.
The victim, who wasn't breathing and had no pulse, revived and was taken to an area hospital, where she was recovering.
Center spokesman Steven Johnson says it is the first time one of the center's defibrillators has been used to save a life.
This was very welcome news, Johnson says, given the staff's sadness at the death of a conventioneer from India who was killed two days earlier in front of the center by a hit-and-run driver.
In honor of Brittney
Brittney Wolfe died of brain cancer two years ago at age 16. Tomorrow would have been her graduation day at Poway High School.
Her mom, T'ann Wolfe, will be in the audience to hear Brittney's name read out during the ceremony along with her former classmates. Accepting Brittney's diploma will be her best friend, Andrea Hamilton.
“It's something we've done in the past,” Assistant Principal Matt Hannan said.
Michelle Ramsey, Brittney's aunt, is grateful: “This is a wonderful tribute to Brittney and it allows T'ann to experience another milestone in her only child's life, although she is physically no longer with us.”
On call in the Himalayas
Local physician Bill Miller and his wife were hiking with a guide in the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan when he was asked to help an ailing woman at a remote farm. After an examination, he treated her for a gastrointestinal disorder, leaving her a 10-day supply of medicine.
In thanks, the family offered him, his wife and guide three warm eggs and three bowls of sweet, freshly boiled milk from the family cows.
They drank the milk and later ate the eggs on the trail. “These two meals were quite possibly the most satisfying payment for medical service I've ever received,” he says.
In the spotlight . . .
Christian Hoff, who just won a Tony in “Jersey Boys,” came back Sunday to visit the La Jolla Playhouse where the show originated. This time, however, he was in the audience. He came to see his wife, Melissa Hoff, a cast member in the ensemble for “Zhivago.” His understudy got a chance to step into his shoes on Broadway . .
P.R. man Jack Berkman recently returned on a flight from New York City with an anvil in his luggage – and he made it past security. He's not planning on shoeing horses anytime soon. This anvil was the coveted Silver Anvil Award from the Public Relations Society of America – presented to Berkman's firm's Jabra marketing campaign . .
San Diego notes
The U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club in New York stirred memories for San Diegan Tom Creamer. His dad, Jack, was a longtime member of the club and the official scorer when Bobby Jones beat Al Espinosa in a 1929 U.S. Open playoff. Perhaps it's fitting then, with the U.S. Open scheduled at Torrey Pines in 2008, that Creamer is captain of the Torrey Pines senior team . .
It's not often that parents work for their children in a non-family-owned business. But that's exactly what happened to one local dad, Howard Hian. He is a consultant under contract to the boutique Britt Scripps Inn. When owner Gordon Hattersley III asked him to recommend someone as general manager, he suggested his daughter, Carol. She got the job, and now she's telling her dad what to do . .
The San Diego Hiker's Ball was one gala tailor-made for those who hate black-tie attire. It took place Saturday night in the Mission Trails Regional Park visitors' center. The entertainment? A rock band, of course.
Diane Bell's column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Fax items to (619) 260-5009; call (619) 293-1518; e-mail to diane.bell@uniontrib.com; or mail to The San Diego Union-Tribune, Box 120191, San Diego 92112-0191.
