Saving a Life on a Parking Lot
Diego Rivera’s role at Baltimore VA Medical Center isn’t clinical; he works as an Inventory Management Specialist, but when encountering a stranger who had collapsed on the parking lot of a White Marsh shopping center this past summer, Rivera didn’t hesitate to help the man.
His swift action, using the skills he learned from the annual CPR training he did while working at the Department of Defense more than 15 years earlier, saved the man’s life.
“I was driving through the parking lot when I noticed a woman standing over what looked like a man at the far end of the lot. I figured he had fallen and maybe couldn’t get himself up, so I stopped to help,” he said.
As he approached the couple, he noticed that the man on the ground was bleeding from his head, and the woman, who was the man’s sister, was on the phone with 911. “When I knelt down, I looked into the man’s eyes. They were glossy, and the only way I can describe it was like he was not there. I rubbed his chest and asked him if he could hear me. There was no response but as I rubbed his chest more, he let out what I believed was an agonal breath.”
Rivera discovered that the man lacked a pulse. That’s when his CPR training from so long ago kicked in. While the man’s sister was on the phone with 911, Rivera tilted the man’s head back, interlocked his hands, found the right spot on his chest and began compressions.
He was soon joined by a woman who happened to be a nurse. Instead of her taking over, she and Rivera worked in tandem. “She checked for a pulse while I continued to do compressions,” Rivera said. “I was getting tired, so she did compressions while I checked for a pulse.”
When a doctor stopped by to help, the trio worked together. They knew they were making progress when the doctor said she felt a weak pulse. “We continued switching off between the three of us doing compressions and after what seemed like an eternity, the paramedics arrived.”
Continuing the compressions and with the help of a defibrillator, the paramedics stabilized the man and loaded him into the ambulance. He had a steady pulse, and though his breathing was labored, he was breathing on his own a few times.
From the moment he encountered the man to the time paramedics drove off, Rivera estimates 20-30 minutes had passed. Half of that time was spent doing compressions.
There was no follow-up. “Once it was all done, we all went our way and lived our lives. I did wonder about the man and his sister but in the moment, we never exchanged any names,” he said. “I thanked the nurse and the doctor who also stopped to help, and they thanked me.”
With his adrenaline running high, it took a few hours for him to calm down. “I think I called everyone in my family to recant that most incredible moment. It is a moment I will never forget, and I’m happy that I was able to be there.”
He added, “I felt proud that I was able to stay calm, recall all that training, and just be there to help. Even thinking about it now, it’s a great feeling.”
“His remarkable actions deserve recognition. He acted from the initial observation that something was not quit right and from the desire to help another human being,” said Agustin Hernandez, Education Programs Specialist, VAMHCS PD REdI, Manager Simulation & SLICE Centers. “This event points to the importance of non-clinical staff being trained in CPR.”
Hernandez submitted Rivera’s name to the Resuscitation Education Improvement Program at SimLEARN program for recognition and a Hero’s Coin. “After a decade, it’s likely that Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation ( CPR) protocols would fade from memory, especially after not using the skills. Without refresher training, knowing what to do to start CPR might be daunting. But Rivera remember his training and stopped to help,” said Rivera who is thinking about developing training for non-clinicians.