Good Samaritan Stories
I hope you enjoy reading these Good Samaritan stories from the American Safety & Health Institute, reported by ASHI Instructors about people they’ve trained. It’s wonderful to have it reinforced how lives are being saved. You CAN take action that saves a life – until 911 arrives.
In Ashford, CT in 2014, Steve Quinto assisted two family members with his emergency care training. 1) Steve’s sister was choking on some food and had started to turn blue. The quick-thinking brother knew exactly what to do and after an abdominal thrust was able to clear the obstruction. 2) A few months later, Steve’s mother suffered a cardiac arrest while he was visiting with her. He performed compression-only CPR on her for 15 minutes without stopping until EMS arrived and they were able to use a defibrillator to bring her back. “They said if he had not done compressions for that long, she would not have made it! A great job by this man!” says his Instructor.
We’re also celebrating Andrew Tickle,who arrived at the scene of an accident in Maine on August 6, 2014. Andrew explains that a pickup truck had been struck by a tractor trailer, causing the pickup to enter a ditch with the tractor trailer directly above the bed of the pickup. Andrew called 911 and soon law enforcement agents and the fire department arrived. By now, the driver was becoming restless and asked to be assisted in exiting the pickup. Upon the arrival of EMS, all responders worked together to safely extricate the man, using both a neck brace and a back board.
Care until a defribrillator arrives
The last story comes from New Jersey where the husband of Lori Woods went suddenly and unexpectedly into cardiac arrest. Even in this unimaginably stressful situation, Lori kept her wits about her, remembered her training, provided life-sustaining CPR, and called 911. Two police officers rapidly responded and successfully defibrillated her husband.
“He was able to enjoy a real Thanksgiving with his family and now has an internal defibrillator,” says Lori’s Instructor.
All of these Good Samaritan stories are a reminder that getting trained is SO important. When you need to use your training, it will likely be unexpected – and sudden. Your ability to STAY CALM and then take correct ACTION is what it’s all about.
As you can see from some of these stories, “You are most likely to give care to someone you love.”
Get trained!
Jean Lesmeister, Instructor
Certified ASHI Training Center
EasyCPR-Denver. com