08/22/2026
🚑 LIFE SAVED IN OZARK COUNTY 🚑
Pictured left to right: Billy Vanwinkle, EMT, Dakota Potts, and Gavin Branscomb, Paramedic.
Dakota has given us full permission to share his story and his recovery.
In the early morning hours of July 26, Ozark County Ambulance was dispatched to a residence for an adult male experiencing nausea and vomiting.
What sounded like a routine medical call quickly became anything but routine.
Earlier that day, Dakota had been floating with friends when he began having intermittent chest pain. As the day went on, the pain progressively got worse. He became increasingly fatigued, started sweating heavily, and could feel his heart beating out of his chest.
Dakota knew something was wrong.
When our crews arrived, his condition was rapidly deteriorating. They were unable to obtain a blood pressure, and his mental status was getting worse.
Once Dakota was placed on the cardiac monitor, crews discovered that he was in ventricular tachycardia, also known as VTACH.
(VTACH is a dangerously fast heart rhythm where the heart is beating so quickly that it cannot effectively pump blood to the brain and the rest of the body. Without immediate treatment, it can quickly lead to cardiac arrest.)
That is exactly what our crews were facing.
Dakota was unstable, so the crew immediately performed synchronized cardioversion in an attempt to restore a normal heart rhythm.
He then went into ventricular fibrillation, or VFIB, and cardiac arrest.
(VFIB means the heart is no longer pumping effectively. Instead, the electrical activity becomes chaotic and the heart essentially quivers instead of pumping blood.)
The crew immediately defibrillated him.
Dakota then went back into VTACH and required another synchronized cardioversion.
This time, he converted into a normal heart rhythm.
There was no hesitation.
Our crews recognized what was happening, relied on their training, and acted when every second mattered.
Today, Dakota is standing beside the very men who helped save his life.
After undergoing an ablation, Dakota has made a full recovery with no neurological deficits.
That is something worth celebrating.
This call is also a real example of why having two ALS units available in Ozark County matters.
For their actions that morning, Billy Vanwinkle and Gavin Branscomb were presented with "Clinical Save Awards."
EMS crews do not often get to see what happens after the ambulance doors close. They may never see that patient again. They may never know how the story ended.
That is what made this moment so special.
Gavin is one of our newest paramedic graduates. He is eager to learn, challenges himself, and continues to grow every day as a provider.
Billy is a veteran EMT with more than 17 years of experience.
Seeing a new paramedic and a veteran EMT come together when it mattered most was something special.
Experience.
Training.
New protocols.
New providers who are excited to learn.
Veteran providers who continue to lead.
And crews who are willing to do what is right, right then, without hesitation.
That is the direction we want Ozark County Ambulance to continue moving.
On July 26, our crews made a difference.
They helped save Dakota's life.
And today, he gets to stand beside the men who were there when he needed them most.
Strong work, men.
And Dakota, we are glad you are here to tell the story!
