"My own guardian angel"

I stood in my kitchen, enjoying a short lunch break before resuming work, when I heard a call go out for a man in the library parking lot, two minutes away. "Man down, not conscious, not breathing, CPR instructions being given." While I wasn't on duty that day, this call for help never goes unanswered. I jumped in the car, navigated my way to the parking lot, and was greeting with a frantic scene. Sure enough, a man in his 50's lay in the parking lot, his son frantically asking for help. The training kicked in - hands on the center of the breastbone, 30 compressions, 2 ventilations...repeat.

A police officer supplied an AED, and with two rounds of CPR and two shocks, the man started breathing again on his own. The ambulance arrived, paramedics performed their dark arts and off the man went to the hospital.

I received a call from the ambulance agency later that day, and then a follow up call several days later - our victim had survived and was coming home. Several weeks later, those who had worked on this man, from the first arriving providers, to the ambulance crew and paramedics got to meet him - he had asked for the opportunity to speak with those who had given him back his life.

I still see this man around town. Every time he sees me, he has the same words..."There he is...my own guardian angel."

Does CPR work?

Yes.

When emergency services are called quickly, when compressions are performed promptly, when defibrillation is applied early, when all the links of the Chain of Survival fall into place, the odds of someone experiencing sudden cardiac arrest surviving increase drastically.

You can be a link in this chain. Contact us today to find out how.