A LETTER OF APPRECIATION FROM AN EVERYDAY HERO

To Whom it May Concern at the Central Texas Red Cross Organization,

The first time I walked into the Apple facility here in Austin as an employee, I was taken to an orientation class where Marshall Duke was presenting. He mentioned the ERT team in Austin and I was immediately interested. I have been involved in ERT since February of 2008 and I've re-certified yearly with the ARC of Central Texas group.

On a Saturday within the last year, I was at Apple taking Professional Application Support calls along with my fellow employees. In a quiet moment during the day, I heard my coworker, Sean, say in a panicked voice, "Steve! Steve!"

 

I turned around to see Steve unconsciously falling backwards and blood coming out of the corners of his mouth. I jumped into action and instantly went thru the routines we practiced again and again in class. I made sure Steve was clear of any immediate dangers. 

 

Then I pointed at my coworker and said, "You, call 911, let them know someone has gone unconscious."  

 

Steve started shaking and convulsing on the ground and it looked like he hit his head on the desk while he was collapsing to the ground. I pointed at another coworker, asked for the AED and to contact security. When the first aid kit and AED arrived, I put on the gloves and as I looked back at Steve, he stopped shaking and he wasn't breathing. I checked for signs of life and got ready for CPR. In the last of the ten seconds I listened for signs of life, Steve started snoring. I've never been so happy and relieved to hear someone snore. At that point, Steve was no longer seizing andI put him in the recovery position to clear his airway of fluid. At that point the phone operator gave the direction to put Steve in the recovery position he was already in. I was relieved to not have to make any more decisions with the operator on the line and the ambulance was on its way. 

 

Steve regained consciousness sometime before the ambulance arrived and had to be calmed. He was scared, had no idea where he was and he was more confused with each question he was asked. Eventually the response team arrived and took him to a local hospital.

Steve is okay today and I can't thank ARC of Central Texas or Apple enough for providing the training necessary to get immediate care to my friend. It ended up that Steve had lost a considerable amount of weight, but his insulin dosage did not change. A trip to the emergency room and a couple days stay in the hospital got him fixed up and his diabetes back in control. 

 

The next time I saw Steve he came from the hospital to Apple to talk to his boss. I was happy to see him upright and himself. I went to shake his hand, but he would have none of that. He wanted a bear hug.

Thank you so much for putting together these programs. Thank you to all the employees that put that together. Thank you. Thank you. I could never thank you enough for giving me the right tools to do the right thing, right away. I'm sure Steve feels the same way or pretty close to it.

Sincerely,

Andy Graham
AppleCare Professional Application Support