Central Iowa Rescue

From the Des Moines Register

Watercraft rider is saved by patrol duo's first CPR test

First, Bill Wineland and Matt Bruner spotted the empty Waverunner-style watercraft Saturday on Saylorville Lake.

Then Bruner thought he saw a stray life jacket floating nearby.

It was a life jacket, and Nickolas Evans was wearing it. The state water-patrol officers discovered the 26-year-old floating face down, lifeless. He had a quarter-size wound on one temple.

The officers turned Evans onto his back, then used the boat to tow him close to shore because of the difficulty of hauling someone into the large patrol boat. When Evans' legs started dragging on the bottom of the lake about 20 feet from shore, Bruner jumped into the chest-high water.

Wineland and Bruner administered CPR for about a minute. "We got a pulse back, and we got breathing back," Wineland said. "He vomited at least two cups of water."

By this time, Ankeny rescue workers had arrived. Evans was airlifted to Mercy Medical Center, where he initially was in critical condition. By Monday afternoon, he was out of intensive care and breathing on his own.