CPR Training Success Story: How 'Stayin' Alive' Became More Than a Song for One Man's Unresponsive Wife

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CPR Training Success Story How 'Stayin'
Alive' Became More Than a Song for One Man's
Unresponsive WifeBy Lindsey Giardino, American
Heart Association News
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On a Saturday morning, Regina Allemand headed
into her realty office to prepare for an
afternoon showing houses in a New Orleans suburb.
She was ahead of schedule, so she went to her
favorite nail salon for a pedicure. It was
nearly Easter, so she picked out a different
pastel color for each toe. When she got in her
car to leave, she wondered whether her family had
started their day. Her husband and sister were
taking her mom, who has dementia, to a casino.
Regina opened the app on her phone to check the
cameras installed at her mom's house. She didn't
see anyone there, but she heard a strange beeping
sound. Regina put her car in drive and headed to
the house to investigate. The beeping turned out
to be coming from her sister's computer. Yet
something else worrisome developed. Regina began
having intense chest pains. She called her
husband, Norbert, to let him know what was
happening. Thinking she was joking, he
sarcastically responded that he'd meet her at the
end of the drive and take her to the ER.
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The call disconnected. Norbert thought he might
have upset her. When she wasn't answering his
calls, he drove to the house. Walking in, the
first thing he saw was Regina's feet. She was on
the ground, her eyes open. She wasn't
responsive. Norbert called 911 and immediately
began CPR. He knew how because his job at a
chemical plant requires him to train every
year. When a sheriff's deputy arrived, he asked
Norbert, "Do you want me to take over?" "I got
this," he responded.
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Norbert continued giving his wife CPR until the
paramedics took over. They loaded her onto a
stretcher and headed to a hospital. On the way,
her heart stopped beating again. Paramedics used
an automated external defibrillator, or AED, to
restore her heart rhythm. She also was put on a
breathing machine. When the ambulance arrived at
the hospital, so, too, did Regina's priest. He
was there to give her last rites. Regina stayed
on life support for two days. Once conscious, she
consented to having a pacemaker and defibrillator
implanted in her chest. She was home within a
week. However, she wasn't the same.
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Sore ribs prevented her from enjoying hugs from
well-wishers. Medication left her feeling
emotionless. That continued for two months, until
her son's wedding. She went in wondering whether
this magical moment might spark her emotions. "I
was walking down the aisle with him, and I felt a
tear come down my eye," she said. "I put my
finger up to it, and I felt a little alive. The
world had been happening around me, but I wasn't
there." On the first anniversary of her
near-death experience, Regina hosted a "Stayin'
Alive" party. The theme carried many
messages. Beyond her obvious joy of being alive,
the song by the Bee Gees is used in CPR training
because it has a tempo that people should follow
when giving chest compressions (and the title
makes it easier to remember in that tense
situation).
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She blasted the song during the party and handed
out flyers with more information about CPR. She's
devoted to spreading the word because only about
10 of people who go into cardiac arrest outside
a hospital survive the event if performed
immediately, CPR can double or triple the chance
of survival. "Just knowing the skill of CPR
could save a child, a colleague or a family
member," Regina said. Source https//www.heart.o
rg/en/news/2024/03/20/her-husband-found-her-unresp
onsive-he-gave-cpr Learn, Enjoy, and Save Life.
Healthforce Training Center offers CPR Training
and certifications such as Basic Life Support
(BLS), Advance Cardiovascular Life Support
(ACLS), Pediatric Advance Life Support (PALS),
CPR AED, Pediatric First Aid CPR AED, and First
Aid CPR AED.
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