Deputies Beat Clock, Save Life

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies raced through the air and on the ground Monday to obtain a life-saving drug for a 73-year-old woman who had taken an overdose of heart medication.

Doctors said the woman’s life would be in danger if the drug was not administered within an hour.

The drama began Monday afternoon when the emergency room staff at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valencia discovered that Emily Longfellow had taken too much digoxin, which slows a rapid heartbeat. Doctors then discovered that the hospital did not have any digibind, the drug that would restore Longfellow’s heartbeat to a normal rate.

The closest hospitals with supplies of digibind were Olive View Medical Center in Sylmar and St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, so doctors called the Santa Clarita sheriff’s station at 1:36 p.m. for help, Sgt. Charles Lane said.

Lane said Deputy Mike DiDonna went by patrol car to Sylmar to get 11 vials of the drug. He said DiDonna then raced 10 miles north to Henry Mayo Newhall, lights flashing and siren blaring.

Deputy Robert Flores, meanwhile, flew a department helicopter from the Santa Clarita station to St. Joseph Medical Center 28 miles away to get another 20 vials.

The vials were delivered 43 minutes after the hospital’s call for help, Deputy Roger Hom said. Longfellow’s condition improved quickly after the drug was administered and she was reported in stable condition Monday night.