HOW RED CROSS TRAINING HELPED SAVE A LIFE

We recently received an email from one of the countless people we have trained in First Aid. It reminded all of us of the great work we do here at the American Red Cross of Central Texas. In 2009 we trained over 20,000 people in First Aid, CPR and a host of other life saving skills:

Yesterday for Easter our whole family went to Austin Park & Pizza for a day of fun. While we were sitting around eating, my little brother noticed that one of our brother-in-laws was turning blue in the face and fixing to fall out of his wheelchair. About 15 years ago he got hit by a drunk driver and now spends most of his time in a wheelchair. He has trouble eating and drinking. Sometimes he will start to choke, but it has never been as bad as yesterday as far as I know. When I noticed what was happening, my training kicked in and I went over and started the Heimlich maneuver on him. About three thrusts later I was able to get the pizza to come out.

I may or may not have saved his life, but I feel as if I did, all because I have training. We were not trained on what to do if someone was in a wheelchair, but at that point it really did not matter. I did have the training and was able to work around it.

THANK YOU RED CROSS!