By Kara Lopp
The Charlotte Observer
Copyright 2008 The Charlotte Observer

LINCOLN COUNTY, N.C. — Lincoln County paramedic Ken Morrison trains the rescue squad's junior members well, co-workers say.

So well that the juniors saved his life Friday night when his heart stopped beating.

Five of the nine junior members, volunteers ages 14 to 18, and another young volunteer went to the rescue squad station on Academy Street in Lincolnton about 9 p.m. Friday to hang out after seeing the movie "Untraceable." The group had been at the station a few hours earlier, but left Morrison alone in the building doing paperwork.

When they came back, Michelle Ward, 17, greeted Morrison as she walked by his office and said he glanced up to acknowledge her. About 20 minutes later Ward and the others came to say goodbye.

But this time Morrison, who will turn 40 on Friday, was slumped in his desk chair, his head cocked to one side. He didn't respond, Ward said, and his lips and face were blue.

The teens said they're just now feeling the emotional effects. Most aren't ready to talk about it.

But Ethan Parker, 17, said once the training from Morrison kicked in there was nothing that could stop them. Parker is captain of the junior volunteers.

Ward ran to get a defibrillator while Parker and Dereck Sherrill, 20, started CPR, Ward said. Someone called on the radio and someone else called 911. They answered the phones that immediately began ringing when the call of "paramedic down" came across the radio.

"We weren't really thinking about the fact that that was Ken," Parker said.

Morrison was in critical condition at Carolinas Medical Center, a hospital spokeswoman said Tuesday. He's been a full-time paramedic with Lincoln County off and on for 10 years.

Though doctors weren't sure if he would live through the night Monday, Morrison is doing better, paramedic Melissa Pernell said. Pernell said she visited Morrison in the hospital Tuesday and he squeezed her hand when she said his name.

Since Friday Parker's battled an upset stomach and has had trouble sleeping, he said.

Ward said it's been hard to concentrate on schoolwork.

Some people have asked Parker to think about what would have happened to Morrison if they hadn't been there. He won't, he said.

"I don't think about the what ifs because we were there and he's alive now," he said.