Calm and Easy Does It for First Aid Good Sam

Kelsey was the camp coordinator for a city summer camp. On July 9, 2012, while chaperoning a group of kids on a visit at a local lake, one of the young campers got a large fish hook embedded in their leg. Kelsey’s training in first aid helped her keep the injured child and other children calm, and allowed her to render aid and have the child transported via EMS to the Emergency Room. The hook was removed and all was well.

Thanks, Kelsey, for keeping everyone cool during a traumatic summer camp moment.

Thanks to Instructor Ed Brewer of Emergency Training Concepts for sharing this story of Kelsey Brewer who came to the aid of a child at a summer camp in Richfield, OH.

Taking All the Right Steps Contributes to a Save at the Durango Mountain Resort

Barbara Lawson of Heart Safe La Plata submits a story about

Cherie Naffziger, who saved a life on August 10, 2012.

According to the record in the automated external defibrillator (AED) used at the scene, the patient did suffer a full cardiac arrest at the resort. The AED did not advise a shock in this instance, however, in Barbara’s words, “The initial data shows a very slow, probably nonperfusing escape-type rhythm that improved after a few minutes of CPR, likely into something that was perfusing again. This kind of save does not happen very often and Cherie deserves an award for her efforts.”

We couldn’t agree more and were proud to send Cherie

We hope you’ll give us that chance as well whenever one of your students courageously steps forward to come to the aid of someone experiencing a medical emergency.

Lessons of the Road—“You don’t know who you are until you show up”

Tim Lawrence,

reports on the amazing effort of his riders when they had an opportunity to be heroes during a group ride in the country. He credits MEDIC First Aid Instructors Barb Rigden and Linda Gums for giving them the confidence to respond.

Here’s Tim’s story:

“It’s amazing what we can learn about each other and ourselves when faced with adversity. As

Director I am charged with many duties and responsibilities, but nothing prepared me for the

events that transpired Friday afternoon in the North Woods.

That day started as a typical group ride, laughter, bravado, and some macho behavior. We

found ourselves on a beautiful winding, scenic road when out of nowhere the beauty turned to horror.

We happened upon a man lying motionless on the side of the road still grasping his bicycle.

Immediately we pulled to the side as a group to render aid and what happened next was truly

amazing. With the blink of an eye, the well-oiled machine known as Accident Scene Management

deployed as if we practiced together for years.

The Ride leader promptly shut down the road in front and the Sweeper closed the rear instantly. While they secured the scene four of us ran to the side of the man (we found later his name was Mark). It was determined immediately that he had no pulse; I announced to a man that also happened along “she is a nurse”! He quickly replied, “I am a doctor”. What a relief; this guy has a chance!

Under the direction of the Doctor I quickly stabilized Mark’s neck and checked for signs of trauma, someone then shouted start CPR! And they were off.

After what seemed like hours I felt the most miraculous thing ever, a pulse! Not just a pulse, a

strong one. Wow! I thought he’s going to make it but then as quickly as it came, it left. They continued CPR

as I kept yelling for Mark not to give up! 15 minutes went by [with rescuers] changing positions as not to tire, and the chest compressions continued.

The sheriff was the first on the scene and gave us his defibrillator, which Jeryl took the lead

on immediately. In the distance we heard ALS and Fire racing to the scene; when they pulled up, the

first thing they said was “keep going, continue CPR”! Huh? Apparently the crew was doing so

good, they were able to get the cart and medicine ready as we continued. I heard one EMT say “Good

CPR, nice job.” The police and firemen both kept telling us how much they appreciated what we were doing.

We loaded Mark on the gurney and placed him into the ambulance, I slammed both doors, gave

it a smack, and they were off.

Dan, Grumpy, Kevin, Ramona, Kim, and Wally, you kept the rest of us and Mark safe from harm’s way by shutting down the roads and directing emergency equipment to the scene. Holly, you kept your cool calling 911 and obtaining very important information, including his name and family contact. Jeryl Medlin, Joe Costanzo, and Steve Barootian, your knowledge and calmness in performing CPR was Mark’s only chance, period! The team work was awe inspiring—you never gave up, you just kept going. I am truly proud of all of you that day and I’m so honored to be your Director.

Unfortunately, Mark Fitting, 57, of Ironwood, Michigan, later passed away of a heart attack. Tim’s message to Mark’s family was “to let them know he did not pass alone but in the company of Angels.”

Saving a Heart on Valentine’s Day

MEDIC First Aid Instructor Marian Wright has some warm words of praise for her student Belva Sarten of the Oroville City Elementary School District in California.

She shares that on February 14, 2012, Belva was quick to respond when alerted that a parent was found unconscious in the parking lot at one of the district’s schools. Belva immediately took action by performing all the steps in an emergency situation, administering CPR for approximately 4.5 minutes, until relieved by EMS. “We are all very proud of Belva's quick and excellent response,” says Marian.

Coast Guard Officers Come to Aid of Choking Child

Jordan C. Johnson, a Machinery Technician 3rd Class Petty Officer and Donald P. Bullock, a Boatswains Mate 2nd Class Petty Officer in the United States Coast Guard were returning from ice rescue training and traveling through Michigan on January 25, 2011.

When stopping for lunch at a McDonalds, they noticed a woman eating with her two children beginning to panic. One of the children, a little girl about seven years old, was clearly choking on a chicken nugget she had ingested into her trachea. Using their first aid knowledge, training, and experience, PO Johnson attempted to calm the distraught mother while PO Bullock attempted abdominal thrusts.

After two properly applied thrusts into the diaphragm, the chicken nugget was dislodged and the child began gasping for air and coughing with relief. The mother was very grateful for the officers’ quick and diligent actions to save the child, but left in a rush without allowing medical personnel to assess the child on scene.

Both PO Bullock and PO Johnson asked the McDonalds staff if they had witnessed the choking child and discovered they were the only ones there trained to assist in a fast manner. 

  Richard Cook commends his USGC students for their outstanding situation awareness and assertiveness, as well as their teamwork and first aid intervention.

An Unforgettable Vacation

On the afternoon of June 29, 2005,

 Brad Dykens of St. Petersburg, FL was on vacation in New York City. While visiting Rockefeller Plaza, Brad used CPR and an AED to save a man’s life.

After hearing a bystander scream in alarm, Brad saw a middle-aged man lying face up on the concrete. His assessment showed the man was unresponsive and breathing irregularly, eventually ceasing to breathe at all.  

While preparing himself to administer rescue breaths even without a barrier device, another bystander came to the rescue. A young woman appeared with a pocket mask and explained that she knew CPR as well. These two rescuers began to work together; the young lady providing the breathing and Brad providing the compressions, while another witness called 911. 

Eventually, a Plaza security guard arrived, and  asked the man to bring an AED immediately. The noise of the growing crowd made it impossible to hear the prompts, but this veteran trainer knew what to do.

After one shock, the patient gasped loudly and then began to breathe on his own as help from the New York Fire Department arrived. While speaking to the professional responders, Brad saw that his co- rescuer had vanished into the crowd.  

While being loaded into the ambulance, the patient felt strong enough to try and sit up on the cot. “Quite a feat for a man who but for a few moments before was dead,” says Brad. 

The patient was visiting New York from Holland with his daughter. After several days of treatment, he was released and able to fly back home.  

We’ll let Mr. Dykens sum up his experience in his own words, “Being an Instructor of CPR and AED, this event solidifies the importance of the team concepts of CPR and the need for everyone to take a class in CPR. You never know when you may need to take action to help someone and the skills of the class give everyone the confidence to be able to save a life someday.”

 

Seaside Rescue

Donald R. Read, a MEDIC First Aid Instructor with the Salvation Army in San Diego, CA, shares a rescue story about two of his students. Husband-and-wife team Trace Willette and Arta Lozenicins relied on their training on July 3, 2011, when they came across a traffic accident on their way to an evening at the beach. Trace saw a man behind one of the wrecked cars suddenly fall to the ground. Arta and Trace pulled over and went to render assistance to the stricken gentleman.

After assessing it was safe to approach, Trace announced that he was trained in first aid and ready to assist. The patient explained that he was experiencing significant abdominal pain as well as pain along the side of his head and neck. Trace instructed another bystander to call 911 while Arta checked for other patients in the vehicles and helped direct traffic away from the scene.

When Trace discovered a large bump on the patient’s left temple, he immobilized the patient’s head to prevent further injury, reassuring the man that help would be arriving soon. With Arta’s assistance, they did a head-to-toe assessment of the patient but found no other obvious injuries.

After a scary moment when one of the affected vehicles began to roll backwards right towards Trace and the patient and was stopped just in the nick of time by yet another bystander, the paramedics arrived. Trace assisted a responder to fit the patient with a neck collar. Then he and Arta were warmly praised by the EMTs and relieved of their duties by the professional response team.

Family of Heroes

Eric Hiatt of Rescue 1 Training commends the Peters family, owners of Summit City Fitness in Fort Wayne, IN. They have had three AED saves in the past 3 years.

In 2008, only two days after receiving their AED, a fitness center customer collapsed in cardiac arrest. He was administered one shock by the then 18-year-old daughter of the family. The patient lived a few more weeks after the incident, eventually passing away from heart disease.

In another incident a customer was found unresponsive at the gym. Owners David and Sue Peters came to the rescue with CPR and their AED. This fortunate customer was back just a week later with a doctor’s note approving a return to working out at the fitness center.

In the most recent event, a man was found unresponsive in the sauna. The oldest Peters son, home from his naval service joined the owners in using the AED to shock the man and save him. A week later, the patient returned to express his deep gratitude. Jokingly it was said how lucky he was and that perhaps he should buy some lottery tickets. The patient took that advice and, still on his lucky streak, won himself $150,000!