Restaurant manager completed necessary CPR course before starting new role—4 days later, it helped her save a life
The importance of knowing first aid procedures should not be underestimated. One hopes they won’t have to use it, but you never know when and how it can become a life-saving action. A 21-year-old woman named Ella McCauley was recently promoted as a manager at the Rugby restaurant, BBC News reported. As part of her preparation for her role, she had to complete a CPR course. 4 days after she finished her training, the call to save a life came knocking at her door. She jumped into action and bravely helped rescue a man.
McCauley went to work as usual and was shocked to see a woman come through the door and ask for help. "A lady from a nearby hairdresser's came in and said, 'Is anyone here first aid trained?' and I was like, 'Oh yeah, what a coincidence, me,’” she recalled. She rushed to assist and found a man, David, who experienced a cardiac arrest. Time was of the essence and the manager hurried over to find David already unresponsive. She quickly brought to mind everything she had learned during her course to help the man. "He was quite a tall guy, so it was quite difficult. There were a few people, so we managed to get him on the floor, but by this point, he was blue and it was terrifying," McCauley added.
Calling it an experience straight out of a film, the 21-year-old was unsure what to expect but continued to give it her best shot. The ambulance was on its way, but in the meantime, everything was in McCauley’s hands. The medics asked her to perform CPR until they arrived. "It felt like an out-of-body experience, I couldn't tell you how long it was for," she said. "When I was doing my training, I was absolutely exhausted, but this was just one of those moments where you just do it,” the woman added. She persistently administered the CPR to the man and when the medics arrived, they prepared the defibrillator.
With the first responders and McCauley both at work, there was hope for the stranger. The 21-year-old noted that she kept talking to David to provide a sort of assurance and also to help with her administration of CPR. A day after the incident, the woman met David’s family, who were ever grateful for her astute action. "To meet them and have them say such kind words, it was such a surreal moment,” she remarked. The entire experience was a shocking one; it was something the young woman never expected to witness. It taught her one thing — the importance of knowing how to respond during emergencies.
"I even thought during the training, 'I'm never going to use this', I was by far the youngest person there, everyone else was on refresher courses and they all said, 'No, I've never had to use it,’” McCauley recalled. However, the recent scenario changed her mind. "I'm living proof of how important the training is. It should be taken so seriously," she explained. "There's a family out there that now has their dad and husband, I think that's a very powerful message," she remarked.
