Release Date: February, 1998
Physician saves a life with his trusty knife
by Denny Angelle
Dr. Keith Reeves doesn't mind admitting he's still a bit of a Boy Scout, particularly when it comes to that motto 'Be Prepared.'
Although it's been a long time since Reeves was an Eagle Scout, he still keeps his pocket knife razor sharp. Just in case.
Reeves, an obstetrician/gynecologist at The Methodist Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine, encountered that 'just in case' scenario on Dec. 17. He was attending a luncheon meeting of the University of Texas Friars' Society, an honorary group that is the oldest organization on the UT campus, at the River Oaks Country Club.
As the main speaker began his talk, Reeves noticed a man seated at another table had started to choke. "They served filet mignon, and I assumed the gentleman was having trouble with a piece of meat," Reeves said.
Reeves, along with Dr. William Francis, a Methodist/Baylor orthopedic surgeon, and a female neurologist from Baytown (whose name Reeves never caught), immediately applied the Heimlich maneuver to the man. "He obviously wasn't moving any air at all before the Heimlich," said Reeves, "and he wasn't breathing afterwards."
As the man began to turn ashen gray and then blue from lack of air, country club personnel produced an oxygen tank and mask. After that was tried to no avail, Reeves and Francis noted that nearly three minutes had elapsed since the man stopped breathing.
With the patient's life literally in his hands, Reeves whipped out his razor-sharp Swiss Army Knife and decided to perform an emergency tracheotomy. With Francis stabilizing the patient, Reeves cut into the man's trachea and opened a small airway.
"Somebody produced a piece of plastic, a tube of some sort (one unverified report said it was a plastic spout from a wine bottle) that we used to keep the airway open until paramedics arrived," Reeves said.
When they did arrive, the emergency medics used forceps to remove a large chunk of meat from the man's throat. The man, retired attorney Frank J. Knapp, was taken to The Methodist Hospital, where he spent a few days in intensive care before he was moved to a private room in Main building last week to continue his recovery.
"We believe that certain things happen for a particular reason, and Frank says this happened because he still has a mission, he has some things still to accomplish," said Inez Knapp, who has stayed with her husband around the clock since he came to the hospital.
When the choking incident happened, Mr. Knapp was recovering from the effects of a stroke. His wife said that over the past two weeks his condition has steadily improved.
"I would just like to thank Dr. Reeves and all those who were involved in saving my husband's life," added Mrs. Knapp. "I cannot begin to express how deeply we appreciate your efforts."
Reeves accepts the attention modestly and chalks up his quick thinking to that old Eagle Scout training and something else: "I'm a graduate of Baylor College of Medicine. You don't come through this program without learning a little bit of everything."
