Forty-nine volunteers from TDS Telecom and its parent company Telephone & Data Systems receive special training to be Safety Leaders at our buildings in Madison and Middleton, Wis. These employees learn about first aid and a whole lot more. Recently they received CPR and Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) training. They are officially ready to save lives—in fact Patty S., from Telephone & Data Systems already has!
Here’s Safety Leader Patty’s story in her own words:
“I re-certified my CPR on April 25 of this year and my mom went into cardiac arrest on April 30.
That evening my mom fell over, out of her chair, and onto the floor. My daughter was sitting with her and yelled for me since I was upstairs. We rolled her onto her back, I called 911 and starting shouting at my mom who appeared to be gasping for air. The 911 operator asked me to find a pulse and start CPR.
I remember Dave, our CPR/AED instructor always telling the class, ‘Remember: crappy CPR is better than nothing.’ He also said that when you are doing good CPR you’ll hear ribs cracking as the compressions need to be at least two inches deep. Well, I heard and felt my mom’s ribs crack—it was surreal!
My son, Michael, who is a first responder and firefighter in a nearby community, heard the page over the radio and drove very fast to our home. He took over and continued CPR until the paramedics arrived. They came running into the house, continued CPR, then had to shock my mom’s heart with the AED as her heart was in “afib” [atrial fibrillation is an irregular and often rapid heart rate].
The advance life support ambulance from Middleton arrived and who walks through the front door? Dave, the CPR instructor I had just recertified with days before. I looked at Dave and said, ‘It’s my mom, Dave!’ His response was, ‘We got this!’ They got my mother stable and transported her to the University of Wisconsin Hospital.
My whole family is so grateful that everything came together to insure my mom’s survival. I’ve learned that only 20 percent of the population who go into cardiac arrest survive. My mom survived due to the early intervention—CPR. Everyone should learn this life-saving technique. I’m glad I did—I was able to celebrate Mother’s Day with my mom once more and she’ll be here for my son’s wedding in June!”
To find CPR training in your community, visit the American Red Cross’ class information page.
