Douglas Erns walked into Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center on Thursday healthy and smiling — a stark contrast to Feb. 19, 2025, when he drove himself there because he didn’t feel well. “Well, I was feeling some discomfort and pain at home, and I thought it was something that needed some atte ntion,” Erns said. Minutes later, Erns’ heart stopped. Luckily he was already in the Sharp Chula Vista Emergency Room. “So, from the waiting room until the next day in intensive care, there was just a complete gap in my memory,” Erns said. That gap was filled by a large team of medical professionals who worked to resuscitate him before he was later transferred to Sharp Memorial Hospital in Kearny Mesa. During American Heart Month, Erns returned to the very room where his heart was brought back to life. It was the first time he met many of the people who treated him. The first person he hugged was Dr. Gregory Fenati, an emergency physician at Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center. “I was probably the very first person you talked to up front when you came into the emergency department,” Fenati said. “And this is the rest of the team that took care of you.” “I had no idea so many people were involved,” Erns said. “We probably had this many people during your actual resuscitation from the emergency department,” Fenati said. Sharp HealthCare says cardiac arrest remains one of medicine’s deadliest emergencies, with more than 75% of patients not surviving beyond the hospital. “You know, we don’t usually get to see your side of us,” Fenati said. “So, generally, we just kind of do our resuscitation and people move on and we never hear from them again. So, this is amazing.” “I mean, my being here, my being anywhere actually is because of all of you,” Erns said. A nurse who treated Erns said reunions like this are rare in the emergency department. “It’s not very often in the emergency department we get to see the end result of what we do,” the nurse said. “So, it’s an amazing thing for us as well.” Erns said he now feels a responsibility to honor the work that saved him. “What I want to do, though, is I want to live my life in the best way possible, to make sure that I’m deserving of everything that you guys did for me. Thank you so much. Really. Thank you so much,” Erns said. February is American Heart Month, a time when health officials encourage people to learn the warning signs of cardiac arrest and seek immediate medical care for chest pain or other concerning symptoms. This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC San Diego. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC San Diego journalist edited the article for publication. ...read more read less