9-year-old boy survives life-threatening asthma attack thanks to EPCH, Life Ambulance crews

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) - It started as a typical day for the Strand family, but quickly turned into a nightmare after their 9-year-old son suffered a severe asthma attack.

Jayden Strand ended up in critical condition at El Paso Children's Hospital. 

Quick thinking by his parents, Life Ambulance EMTs and the emergency room staff saved his life. 

"It was a normal day. He played football. He had a game. We went to dinner, got home, we went to bed at 2 in the morning. He started complaining that he couldn't breathe," said Sofia Strand, Jayden's mother. 

"We were at the station. We got a call for a respiratory distress. Me and my partner rushed to the truck. We heard it was a little kid. We knew that we had no time to waste," said Jose Anchondo, EMT Trainer with Life Ambulance.

In a matter of minutes a typical day nearly took a turn for the worst.

Jayden was diagnosed with asthma at the age of 5, and his mother said he had never had such a severe reaction like that night on April 7.

His parents gave him inhaler and nebulizer treatments, but his condition worsened quickly. 

They called 911 and Life Ambulance arrived just minutes later.

"I gave him everything that I thought he needed and I did my best with, uh, decision making. And I told him let's go to El Paso children's now like he needs to be seen by a specialty," said Melissa Moreno, paramedic with Life Ambulance.

Both Melissa and Jose knew time was of the essence.

"first thing that came to my mind was load and go. Uh, there's no time to treat on scene. It's just getting him in the back of the ambulance. I'll do everything en route over there and as soon as I get there, uh, he'll be treated with the best team possible," added Moreno.

Jayden's mother said, "He had no heartbeat. We weren't sure if he was going to make it or not, but the team worked really, really hard." 

Jayden received specialized pediatric care in ICU at El Paso Children's Hospital.

“On arrival, our team worked on him for quite some time. It was a prolonged resuscitation, where ultimately, they were able to stabilize enough to be able to move him to our pediatric intensive care unit, and a few days later, he was fully awake and perfectly healthy," said Naomi Bastardo, EPCH Emergency Department Director. 

After four days, his condition improved enough to be taken off of life support. Jayden woke up responsive and his prognosis continued to improve.

"Everything that they do is pediatrics, all their trainings, all the education is all about pediatrics, so that makes a huge difference where this is truly our specialty," said Bastardo.

Jayden's parent's are beyond grateful for the care of specialized pediatric doctors and nurses. "Thank you for not giving up. Thank you for working so hard on him, and for bringing him back to me," said Strand.  

Jayden was back on the football field and at school just two weeks later.

El Paso Children’s Hospital is the only independently licensed children’s hospital within a 350-mile radius that provides advanced pediatric specialty care for families across the Borderland.