Fortunately, Pelham has seen MH before. She was present during another case in Valdosta 10 years ago in an infant in for hernia surgery. An early indicator is an unexplained increased breath output of carbon dioxide and increased heart rate. A later sign is that body temperature will rise very quickly. The patient’s heart can go into ventricular defibrillation and cease blood flow. The key to saving this girl was the team’s quick reaction.

“Malignant hyperthermia can present as fairly mild, intermediate or severe. More often the presentation is severe, and you always have to treat it as it were severe. It can kill people. It has been known to kill people in as little as 15 minutes from the time it presented,” she said. “Most of the time if you jump right on it, you do have a little time but not a lot, and you really have to work it hard.”

Thorough preoperative exams are important, she said. Certain conditions, such as muscular dystrophy and strabismus (crossed eyes), are potential indicators, but this child had no indications whatsoever, Pelham said.

Other than a knowledge of family members having an anesthesia problem during surgery, there is no way to detect whether a patient going under anesthesia will have an MH crisis. A muscle biopsy can be done, but only a few centers in the U.S. test for MH. One is in Wake Forest, she said.

“If we know about it, no problem. There’s other things we can do,” she said.

Anesthesia has gotten so sophisticated through better monitoring tools, better drugs and training.

“It’s pretty rare to die from anesthesia,” she said.

The little girl eventually was transferred to Shands Hospital by helicopter. Pelham and her team worked on the girl for nearly six solid hours before the transfer, trying to keep her temperature down. The child remained in intensive care at Shands for a week, continuing to receive dantrolene.

Some time later, the mother of the child brought her by to see Pelham to thank her for saving her child.

“I hugged that kid. I thought I’d never let her go. It was great,” Pelham said. “... I’m a Christian. I strongly believe in God. God really blessed us.”

Pelham studied nursing at the Fletcher School of Nursing at Southern College before attending and graduating with honors from the University of Health Sciences at Antigua School of Medicine. Her anesthesiology residency was at Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, and she is board certified with the American Board of Anesthesiology, is a member of the Southern Medical Association, Georgia Society of Anesthesiologists and American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine. Pelham, as study coordinator at Aesthetic Surgery Center in Coral Gables, Fla., directed a team of researchers in conducting two long-term FDA approved studies regarding breast implants.

Pelham has volunteered in various capacities throughout her career to administer health care to underserved children. She is a native of Savannah, a member of Daughters of the American Revolution and is married to Dennis Farmer.