In June 1999, Molly Erin Schwab underwent surgery at Froedtert Hospital. Five days later she had a pulmonary embolism and was rushed back to the Emergency Department.

“In Molly’s case the differential diagnosis was small. That is, she was suffering from immediate cardiac arrest. She had a rhythm called pulseless electro activity. In cardiac arrest this type of rhythm is typically due to either a massive heart attack, which you would not expect in a 25-year-old, life-threatening bleeding, such as gastro-intestinal bleeding, which by clinical evaluation we knew that she did not have, or neumothorax, where a lung collapses and compromises blood flow, or a pulmonary embolism,” explained Thomas P. Aufderheide, MD, Professor, Emergency Medicine Research

Most physicians are able to take time for diagnostic tests that irrefutably demonstrate the diagnosis so they can act accordingly. “In emergency medicine we don’t always have that luxury. We need to act based on the most probable clinical indications. That’s what we did in Molly’s case, and the outcome speaks for itself,” Dr. Aufderheide said.

Dr. Aufderheide directs the Resuscitation Research Center in the Department of Emergency Medicine. The Resuscitation Research Center is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). “We’ve had a number of substantial discoveries that look like they will double the survival rate from cardiac arrest. In addition, these resuscitation findings are also doubling the neurologically intact survival rate. Molly was the recipient of some of those discoveries before we finalized our trials,” Dr. Aufderheide said.“

"This June was very different from the June I experienced 8 years ago. Both summers my hope to participate in a triathlon was thwarted, but this time it was for a really great reason; I was pregnant. Along with Jeffrey’s arrival, our son Tomas, from Guatemala, came home, so we have two beautiful children that we’re celebrating,” (Schwab) Holsen said.

“I believe the unique features of our hospital in this community are that we offer every medical service. The other thing that is unique is that we balance three missions here at Froedtert Hospital. We have a research mission, educational mission and clinical mission. We put patients first, but all of those missions must come into balance so we can accomplish the goals of each,” said Michael C. Decker, MD, Associate Professor, Emergency Medicine.

The distinctive features of Froedtert’s Emergency Department reside in its faculty who are constantly translating research into care and teaching the next generation of students and residents in emergency care.

“Imagine the effect of our emergency care teaching program. Now, if someone gets sick in parts of Wisconsin that generally would not be the best location for care, chances are they may be treated by a physician who was trained here at Froedtert & The Medical College. It’s exciting to have these distinctive features and important for people to realize that in the state of Wisconsin, in the Midwest, there are not that many emergency departments that do what we do,” added Stephen W. Hargarten, MD, Chair and Professor, Emergency Medicine.

“Because of the care they provided during such a difficult time, and the life-saving techniques that they applied, my family wanted to honor the Emergency Department staff by starting an endowment fund in my name,” (Schwab) Holsen said.

The Molly Erin Schwab Endowment is extremely important to the Department of Emergency Medicine and to resuscitation science. “We’ve made phenomenal discoveries that are altering and improving neurological survival on an ongoing basis. This endowment will allow us to expand our efforts, improve our techniques for successful resuscitation, and allow us to disseminate this information to students, residents and emergency physicians not only locally but nationally and internationally,” Dr. Aufderheide said.