Local Pediatrician is Glad to Be Alive

By Annette Pinder
Fred D. Archer, III, MD, chaired and participated in CycleNation on Sunday, October 27, 2024, an American Heart Association event that helps fund life-saving stroke and heart awareness, and education. Afterward, he returned home to eat pizza and watch the Bills vs. Seahawks game. Suddenly, while cheering for his favorite team, he became unconscious, was breathing irregularly, and turned blue. Dr. Archer’s wife Melissa, a Nurse Practitioner at Senses Medical Wellness, quickly assessed the medical emergency and immediately started CPR.
Dr. Archer was essentially dead, kept alive only by the chest compressions his wife administered. After his son Fred called 911, a neighbor and Commissioner for the Snyder Fire Department (SFD) ran across the street to help Melissa perform CPR. Moments after, the SFD, Twin City Ambulance, and Amherst Police Department arrived and sprang into action.
Dr. Archer experienced a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), which happens suddenly, at any age, and often without warning when an electrical malfunction in the heart causes an irregular heartbeat (arrythmia), and disrupts blood flow to the brain, lungs, and other organs. Without immediate intervention, SCA can cause a person to become unconscious, pulseless, and die. Dr. Archer is alive today due to the immediate administration of CPR, an Automated External Defibrillator (AED), and emergency cardiac medications. He regained consciousness and was breathing and talking while being transported to Buffalo General Medical Center/Gates Vascular Institute (BGMC/GVI).
Upon Dr. Archer’s arrival at BGMC/GVI, Vijay S. Iyer, MD, PhD, Chief of Cardiovascular Medicine, and Ashish Bhatia, MD, a cardiac electrophysiologist at BGMC/GVI, determined Dr. Archer’s need for an implantable cardiac defibrillator. The device acts as both a pacemaker and defibrillator, and Dr. Archer says, “It’s great to be part robot now, and I’m glad to have that built- in backup if I ever experience an arrhythmia again.”
Incredibly grateful to those who saved him, Dr. and Mrs. Archer held a Celebration of Life dinner on December 18, 2024, at Senses Medical Wellness Center at 360 Genesee Street in Buffalo. With over 200 people in attendance, they thanked and distributed awards to their family, friends, neighbors, first responders, BGMC/GVI medical team and staff for the work they perform daily that often goes unnoticed. Meanwhile, Melissa Archer is grateful that all of the help her husband received prevented her from becoming a widow.
What’s next? Dr. Archer emphasizes the importance of everyone learning hands-only CPR and how to use AEDs. Most importantly, he tells anyone who does have heart disease symptoms to make an appointment with their physician to get checked out as soon as possible.
Fred D. Archer, III MD, is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Associate Dean of Admissions at the Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, and a practicing physician with UBMD. Vijay Iver, MD, PhD, and Ashish Bhatia, MD, are physicians at Great Lakes Cardiovascular. Learn more about Dr. Iyer, Dr. Bhatia, and other cardiac specialists at https://www.greatlakescardiovascular.com/providers. For information about Senses Medical Wellness and the psychiatric/mental health services provided by Melissa Archer and practitioners, visit www.senseswellness.org.