Victory

Several years ago, before I joined the Emergency Response Team, an effort was initiated by the volunteers and management for our company to purchase Automatic External Defibrillator devices for all of our buildings worldwide. The lifesaving ability of these machines is unquestionable, however the process stalled for 6 years due to management blunders and funding concerns.

Just over a year ago, new management was finally able to push the project through to approval. Our company's buildings and ERT Leads on our West Coast and Southern US campuses received these critical devices, and this past Wednesday, one of them was placed into action.

An employee at one of our Southern US buildings suddenly collapsed at his desk. He was not breathing. He had no pulse. The ERT in that building sprung into action, performing CPR and attaching the AED leads to his chest.

One shock. Two shocks. The AED reported that a third shock was not advised.

He had regained a pulse. The ERT continued breathing for him.

The fire department arrived twelve minutes after the initial call, due to the remoteness of their location. Since brain cells die after 4-6 minutes of lack of blood circulation and oxygen, it is undeniable that the quick action of the ERT, and the application of the AED, saved this man's life. Had there been no onsite response, he would have been dead upon arrival of the fire department.

This morning, he was breathing on his own, and although still in a medically-induced semi-coma, was able to smile at his wife. He never would have had that chance without the team's intervention.

The years of arguing, researching and pushing for these lifesaving devices were difficult, time-consuming and stressful.

This makes it all worthwhile.