ASHI and MEDIC First Aid Blog

Let’s end this week with some inspiration from our student success files!

First up, from MEDIC First Aid instructor Curt Haas in Ashford, CT, we learn of Steve Quinto who in 2014 assisted two family members with his emergency care training. 

In February of 2014, 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 force the food item out of his sister’s throat. 

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 the compressions for that long, she would not have made it! A great job by this man!” says Curt.

We’re also celebrating Andrew Tickle, a student of MEDIC First Aid instructor Linda Calderiso. When Andrew arrived at the scene of an accident at the intersection of US Route 1 and ME Route 6 in Maine on August 6, 2014, he successfully assisted in moving a patient carefully and correctly.

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. After calling his dispatcher on the radio to have him report the accident, he assessed the driver of the pickup, and placed another call to dispatch to advise him of the condition of the people on the scene.

Soon law enforcement agents and a member of the fire department arrived, monitoring and communicating with the driver. 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.

Another hero is Natoka Gregory, whose story was shared with us by ASHI instructor Robert Larkin of Richmond Residential Services SSA in Richmond, VA. On December 23, 2014, two direct support professionals were working at the SSA apartment program. Suddenly, Natoka heard a noise coming from the office where her colleague was working on the computer.

When she entered the office, Natoka found her co-worker unconscious. This fast-acting rescuer had been trained within the past year, and that training helped her assess the situation, check for signs of life, immediately notify advanced medical responders, and perform CPR.

Unfortunately, the patient did not survive. Later medical reports indicate that she suffered a massive heart attack.

Instructor Larkin reports that Natoka was offered support following the incident, a very important part of the bystander rescue process, and that this wonderful employee continues to work to support her residents and her co-workers. “We are very proud of her efforts to help her colleague in this situation. Her actions were a comfort to the employee’s family and friends,” says Robert.

Today’s last story comes from ASHI instructor Vivian Scavo of South Brunswick Public Schools in New Jersey about district employee Lori Woods. On Nov 9, 2014, Lori's husband 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 Vivian.

To all our amazing students, thank you for having the confidence in yourself and your training to respond in these actual emergencies.

You can nominate your hero by clicking the button below!