A Life-Saving Event

Thankfully, there were still a few team members on campus late last Friday afternoon, and they remembered their CPR-First Aid training.

Friday afternoons are pretty quiet on the Brindlee Campus. Two reasons, most of our techs work four 10-hour days, Monday - Thursday, and since March of this year, most of our office team has been working remotely.

A blocked airway

It was a few minutes before closing when Connor was preparing to leave. Knowing he would stop by his gym for a quick workout before heading home, he decided to eat a snack.

Wanting to do this quickly as to finish his workday, he ate fast, literally inhaling one of the bites.  That inhaled bite got lodged and blocked his airway.

Just two others

Knowing he was in trouble, he looked around to see if anyone was close who could help.  About 50’ away were Alex and Gus.  With the last breath in his lungs and not being able to take another, he hurried to them.

Conner

Connor couldn’t speak, but his communication was clear as he held his throat in the universal sign for choking and began to frantically beat on Alex’s chest.  At first, Alex thought Connor was just goofing off at the end of a long day. But looking at Connor’s face and seeing the panic in his eyes, Alex knew something was wrong.

Quick, decisive action

In a quick response, Alex turned his knowledge of the Heimlich maneuver into decisive action and dislodged the piece of food from Connor’s trachea.

God had other plans

Only three people were left in our main campus shop last Friday, Alex, Gus, and Connor. Had Connor been alone, based on his description of not being able to move air at all, we might be telling a different story today. 

But God had other plans.