Grayson does Good

[Guest guest]

So there we were, minding our own business…

The tale of how EMS1 columnist Grayson helped make a save while

returning home from EMS Today

By Grayson

The headline is how most EMS war stories begin, isn't it?

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Sunday morning, on the way back to Massachusetts from EMS Today in

Baltimore, my buddy Too Old to Work, Too Young to Retire and I stopped at a

diner

in Edison, N.J., for breakfast. Halfway through our eggs and bacon, we

heard a waitress shout, " Somebody call 911! "

Several diner staff were clustered around a booth 10 feet away, where an

elderly woman slumped over in her seat, eyes open and unfocused, with

gasping respirations at about 12 per minute.

TOTWTYR and I got her out of the booth to manage her airway, and finding

no carotid or radial pulses, immediately started chest compressions. Since

neither of us had a pocket mask or barrier device, we elected to do

uninterrupted compressions, relieving each other every two minutes.

One well-meaning bystander — not understanding why we weren't doing 30:2 —

tried to stop us, but we politely informed her that not only were we both

off-duty paramedics, but that we were also BLS instructors.

Halfway through the second cycle of compressions, a local cop arrived with

an AED and a BLS bag. The poor officer, whose hands were shaking so badly

he couldn't apply the AED ads, readily surrendered the device to TOTWTYTR.

After one shock, a compressor switch, another two minutes of compressions

(at 30:2 with BVM ventilation and oxygen this time), we delivered the second

shock just as the local BLS squad arrived.

After assuring that compressions were continued with minimal interruption,

we returned to our seats. The BLS squad delivered another shock, and by

the time the ALS transport unit arrived, our patient had regained a pulse and

effective respirations.

Of the successful resuscitations I've worked over the years, the common

factor was that most of the links of the AHA Chain of Survival were in place.

In this case, every link was in place; early access to 911, bystander CPR

from the moment of arrest, defibrillation within 4 minutes, and ALS care

within 8 minutes.

And as a result, one lucky lady has a fighting shot at survival that she

may not have had otherwise. Plus, the diner comped our breakfast!

Now, how cool is that?

Louis N. Molino, Sr., CET

FF/NREMT-B/FSI/EMSI

Freelance Consultant/Trainer/Author/Journalist/Fire Protection Consultant

LNMolino@...

(Cell Phone)

(Office)

(Office Fax)

" A Texan with a Jersey Attitude "

" Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds

discuss people " Eleanor Roosevelt - US diplomat & reformer (1884 - 1962)

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