LEXINGTON, Ky. ― Two Lexington firefighter-paramedics, who were attending an American Heart Association training conference, used their CPR skills to save a heart attack victim who was also attending the conference.
Lexington Fire Department Capt. Les Fryman and firefighter-paramedic Sean Davenport were attending the regional meeting of the American Heart Association Emergency Cardiovascular Care Committee in Charleston, West Virginia, when they noticed a colleague was having a medical emergency.
“Because of our CPR training we recognized she wasn’t breathing and didn’t have a pulse,” Fryman said.
Fryman and Davenport began CPR, while bystanders called for help and retrieved an AED.
They continued CPR and used the AED on the woman, who soon began breathing on her own, and regained a strong pulse.
By the time the woman reached the emergency room, she was “totally with it,” according to EMS reports. She told EMS providers, “Please let them know that I’m OK and please don’t let them cancel the meeting because of me.”
Fryman spoke with the woman about her cardiac arrest survival. “She was in good spirits and wanted me to share this story as a way to encourage others to learn CPR,” Fryman said.
Nationwide, 38 people die every hour from sudden cardiac arrest. The vast majority, 75 to 80 percent, of sudden cardiac events occur at home. Often, the people who learn CPR save a family member.
The Lexington Fire Department, like many fire departments and EMS agencies, offers a free, hands-only CPR class.