CPR Training
Posted on April 29, 2014
About a month ago I joined the Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT) here at HNE. Three weeks ago I took a First Aid class, and last Thursday, evening I took a CPR course. Both are required for participation on the MERT team. I had taken both courses many years ago when I was briefly a school bus driver in California, but my certifications had lapsed in the intervening years. Both courses were good refreshers, but I didn’t expect to have to use them right away. Here at HNE we have real doctors and nurses on the MERT team, so I never thought my skills might be needed.
The day after the CPR course, I was driving up to Burlington on Friday to pick up my daughter at University of Vermont for spring break. A little north of Montpelier on I-89, I was the second or third car to come upon an accident. A young woman had drifted from the left lane onto the median and flipped her car. If I hadn’t just taken the CPR class the night before, I probably would have driven past and assumed that the police would arrive soon, but because I had just received the training I thought I should stop because I might be the only person who had the skills if CPR was needed.
Fortunately the young woman was uninjured, or at least appeared to be so. She was already out of the car by the time I got there. I asked a couple questions–was the area safe? Was the car ignition turned off? and looked at her closely. She was shaken but was on a cell phone talking to someone about what had just happened. Still, I made some mistakes. She was shivering, but neither I nor anyone else thought to have her put on a jacket. I did think about going to my car to get blankets I had in there (I could have brought them when I first went to the scene but didn’t think of it), but my car was across several lanes of highway and a couple hundred yards up the road, and I figured the police would be there by the time I went and came back, so I left, and as I was pulling out I did see the police arriving.
Next time I will try to be more clear-headed, but this experience did prove to me that I should stop in emergencies, and that I will stop the next time, too. I just didn’t expect to be using what I learned so quickly!