911

Dear Mouse, I would like to give my share of recognizing a heroic act of one brave lady by presenting her story here. Jt, that was a very brave and noble thing to do. I sincerely salute you for a job well done. It's not only in war that we get our medals. Our everyday life is a constant war for survival, and helping another human being to survive deserves a medal.- LMYE You are the modern day Good Samaritan, that's what it was Jay. While there are more of you out there, you are definitely one. -W Bless you, Jay. No, what you did may not be called heroic by some.. but in fact should be a thing that ANYONE would do under the circumstances. Sadly, you know the contrary to be true. I'm so thankful for the "Jay's" of this world... and hope that if called upon that I would stand up to that name as well. What a wonderful gift you gave...... a chance, and then... life. - And in giving that gift you have received one in return. Scared or not, you gave proof of your own inner strength and will. I'm proud to know you- jude These are accolades to a young lady who definitely does not share my Legolas character. If I were in her shoes, I could have screamed for help and that¡¦s it. Shame on me but I will not be able to get rid of the Greanleaf character in my persona. This is her story. How do I begin to tell this one? First of all, the whole thing feels surreal to me. I was on my way to work on wednesday the 28th of January. I stopped at the store to get my morning Starbucks...and yes I am an unrepentant American consumer/capitalist! It was about 8:30 am. As I opened my door I saw what appeared to be a middle aged unkempt man lying a few feet off to my left. He was moving somewhat, more like twitching than moving and I suddenly realized he had fallen over a planting curb, and hit his head on a parking bumper. I called out to him..."SIR?! SIR?!" while I put my coffee down. As I approached I saw his lips and his tongue(it was protruding and swollen) were an awful shade of blue. Now I am in a grocery store parking lot in a large city with a Starbucks and several other stores in the same plaza...there are several people coming and going...I yelled at a passerby to get help and called 911 on my cell...time does that very weird stretched out slowed down thing it always does in emergencies and I have time to observe about 50 separate things while I am shouting into my phone. People pause when you yell for help, but are not easily moved to help quickly.Their own fear response or sense of incompetence confuses them and they hesitate. Some people just don't give a crap if the person needing help appears to be unkempt or indigent or older. Some people like to watch things unfold from a safe distance wavering between helping and appearing to help while they actually do nothing. 911 dispatchers are amazingly calm and helpful people while being shouted at by distraught callers "Stay on the line please" is a very stupid thing to say to someone who is watching another person slowly stop breathing or even struggling to breathe. CPR training is one of those things you don't ever REALLY believe you will use. 5 minutes is a very LOOOOOOONG time. Grocery store managers who dawdle while retrieving a protective breathing device should be shot. Of course the reason these men and women ARE grocery store managers is because their resentful/supercillious nature renders them unfit for anything resembling real success or decent human interaction. Giving mouth to mouth resuscitation is actually quite GROSS! Overcoming the physical reaction to having a perfect strangers' saliva in and on my mouth is one of those bizarre..."I wish they'd told me about this" moments. I felt a deep stab of shame at my revulsion and had to reprimand myself severely to continue breathing for this man while I waited for the aid cars and the dstore manager to retrieve a breathing barrier from their industrial first aid kit in the store. I tend to take over in emergencies...I am directing other people while doing chest compressions...and squeezing while trying to get an effective airway open so I can blow more air past fluids and tongue... The woman who stopped to help was not strong enough to do proper compressions...and would not breathe for this man without a barrier...she kept telling me to wait...don't do it without a barrier...I remember saying that this man doesnt have the time to wait. And then breathing for him while my insides jumped and my head said things like "Eeeeewwww...oh god breathe breathe....please breathe..." So I yelled to one of the store employeees who had come out to go get their breather from their first aid kit ...they RAN....but I swear I wanted to take the life of the manager who WALKED it out... Those breathing barriers are WAY better for moving air than mouth to mouth!!! Not only do you NOT squeeze about the body fluids but you DONT struggle to get an air tight seal so when you DO breathe it goes IN their lungs instead of out around your cheeks. Never hesitate to rip open a shirt when performing CPR. Never worry about how someones pants ended up around their knees when they cant breathe. It is far worse to be dead than embarrassed by ones arse hanging out. The woman who donated her coat to cover this mans privates was truly helpful in preserving his dignity and trying to keep him warm. If someone can't breathe...they really do turn blue...and it is amazing how few breathes it takes to make that color go away. Pinkish lips and tongue are FAR -FAR more comforting colors on human faces than blue... The sound of sirens coming nearer does NOT mean its ok to quit helping or LEAVE!! Adrenaline keeps the scream of sirens less than 10 feet away from deafening you. Adrenaline also makes it very hard to stand up without leaning on something for a bit after help arrives. Having a van to lean on is a good thing, it gets you out of the way of the paramedics and it holds you up when you're shaking. Going to work after a start to the day like this is very unproductive. Getting a call from the medics several hours later to tell you the man is still alive is a relief. There is no such FEELING as heroic...there is the feeling of SHOCK to witness the face of death.. and what you can do to stop it. I was SCARED. JT The CA t