I share an office at work with a few other individuals. Today (October 20th) a few of my co-workers decided to take their lunch breaks at the same time. They told me and Rick (my manager he is in his 60s) that they were headed to lunch so it would just be the two of us.
As I was going about my work I thought to myself, "If they aren't back by the time my lunch break comes around, I'm just going to take my lunch break. Rick can handle things." Almost instantly I had the feeling that I needed to stay at my desk and work until someone else came back.
A few minutes later I heard snorting noises, this really confused me. I got up from my desk and walked over toward Rick's desk and he was still making snorting noises. I said his name and he didn't respond. He was bent over his computer and his eyes didn't look quite right to me.
I ran out to the shop and told the guys I needed help. A few guys followed me inside and one ran upstairs to get some more help.
When we got back into the office Rick was leaning back in his chair and still making the snorting noises. I told my one co-worker to get him out of the chair and to lay him on his back (he is a lot bigger than me). I sent somebody else outside to get our HR person who was eating lunch in her car so she could call his wife. I got 911 on the phone and instructed another co-worker to start CPR and gave them some brief instruction on how to do it. And then I ran to look for gloves and a protective barrier for the mouth. At this point Rick was gray, he had no pulse, he was unconscious, and he wasn't breathing.
Next, I went outside to wave down the firetruck (GPS doesn't do a very good job at finding our office). I led the paramedics into the building and told them what happened.
The paramedics immediately dragged him out from behind his desk, they cut most of his clothing office, gave him what looked to be like shots, they did more CPR, and hooked him up to a defibrillator. Shortly there after Rick started breathing.
The HR person got his wife on the phone and she gave the paramedics his medical history.
The paramedics strapped him to a gurney and loaded him into the ambulance and rushed him to the hospital. I'm not sure what his status is, all I know is he is in the ICU.
I have been praying all day that he will make it through this.
I'm so grateful that I listened to the prompting I had. If I hadn't have listened, nobody would have found him until it was too late. Today I was reminded how precious life is. Each day is a gift and we should strive to make the most of each day. You never know when your time may run out.
I'm also grateful that I took several CPR, AED, and First Aid classes in college. I never imagined that I would actually need to use the things I learned in those classes.
