CPR Classes | 12-year-old learns CPR during 911 call to save mom

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CPR Classes 12-year-old learns CPR during
911 call to save mom
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Lying on the floor unconscious, choking from food
blocking her airway, Kimberly Glens life
depended on her 12-year-old daughter Kinsey and
the woman giving instructions over the
phone. The story has a happy ending, but it
underscores the importance of CPR and the need to
learn it before theres a crisis. Kinsey did
really well, says Barbara Morris, the Paulding
County, Georgia, 911 dispatcher who calmed her
down and talked her through the emergency. But
youre one leg up if you actually know CPR. You
never know when youre going to use it. For
Kinsey, a seventh-grader in Dallas, Georgia, 30
miles northwest of Atlanta, that moment came at
540 p.m. on March 22. Her mother was in the
kitchen making lunch for the next day when she
took a bite of a hard-boiled egg.
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Glen has a condition called eosinophilic
esophagitis, an inflammation that can make it
difficult to swallow food. Feeling the egg
getting stuck in her throat, she took a drink of
water to help push it down. But then I coughed
and it kind of shot up into my airway, she says.
I couldnt get it to come out and I started
panicking. Unable to breathe, she gestured to
Kinsey in the next room to call 911, as they had
discussed in case of emergency. I started
feeling dizzy and my face started feeling kind of
tingly and flushed, Ms. Glen recalls. I sat
down on the kitchen floor and thats the last
thing I remember.
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She had passed out, and the clock had started
ticking Brain cells deprived of oxygen begin to
die within minutes. Kinsey was distraught, but
phoned her grandmother, who called 911 and told
the dispatcher where to send the rescue unit.
Then Kinsey herself called 911, where Morris
answered the phone. My mom is choking and I
dont know what to do! Kinsey yelled. On the 911
recording, her 8-year-old sister Karina and
3-year-old brother Aidan are crying and screaming
in the background. Morris had an immediate
three-fold task calm the child down, assess the
situation, and put Kinsey to work. We have
techniques to calm people and get them to listen
to what youre saying, said Morris, a 22-year
veteran of emergency communications.
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Many people associate choking emergencies with
the Heimlich maneuver, but thats only half the
story. If theyve lost consciousness, Morris
said, You go into CPR, usually chest
compressions, with the goal of keeping blood
flowing and possibly dislodging the
blockage. Kinsey didnt know CPR, but she was
about to learn. Listen carefully to all my
instructions and go to the patient, Morris said.
Im going to tell you what to do.OK, come on,
tell me! Kinsey responded. The dispatcher
talked her through the basics of chest
compressions one hand on top of the other, arms
locked straight, pushing down hard at least 2
inches, really hard and really fast, about 100
times a minute. It was scary, Kinsey said. I
was freaking out. But her voice just calmed me
down. I listened to her and I just knew. And I
knew if I didnt do it right I wouldnt have my
mom today.
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Morris also told Kinsey to count the
compressions. At about 10, an icky mix of egg,
mucus and saliva started to emerge. Karina, the
younger daughter, did her best to scoop it out of
her mothers mouth. Kinsey says the dispatcher
urged her not to let up and by compression 88,
it finally all came out. The ambulance arrived
at about the same moment. The whole ordeal had
lasted about eight minutes, with Kinsey pounding
on her mothers chest the last four. Thanks to
what the emergency medical technicians described
as high-quality CPR, Glen soon was breathing
normally, alert and fully recovered. She woke up
with a messy kitchen, a sore chest and a sense of
wonder and gratitude. The first thing I did was
tell her, Thank you, Im so proud of you, I love
you, she said. I told her she was my little
hero.
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Glen, who is studying to be a nurse, says she
never thought to teach her children any emergency
procedures beyond calling 911. It never crosses
your mind to say, Hey if I start choking let me
teach you to do the Heimlich maneuver, or hey, if
I lose consciousness let me teach you how to do
CPR. Those are things as parents we dont think
about because we always think about taking care
of our children, not the reverse. Shes
rethinking that. Kinsey has signed up for a CPR
course. I think I want to be a nurse like my
mom, she said. A few postscripts since the
March dramaGlen is pondering various treatments
for her esophagus condition, but adds, Im
definitely being more careful when I eat.She
took the family to tour the countys 911 call
center, where they had had an emotional meeting
with Morris.
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She took the family to tour the countys 911 call
center, where they had had an emotional meeting
with Morris. A lot of times we have no idea
what happens after the call, Morris said. Its
nice to know the outcome was good. Kinsey was
featured on local television and welcomed back to
school after spring break as a hero. In April she
was awarded the Heartsaver Hero Award from the
American Heart Association for her
levelheadedness and bravery in an emergency
situation. And theres another benefit for
Kinsey, who recently had a birthday and
officially became a teenager. Its become kind
of a little joke, Glen said. She says, Mom,
you know I did save your life and all. You really
cant ground me for a while.
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Source A few postscripts since the March
drama Glen is pondering various treatments for
her esophagus condition, but adds, Im
definitely being more careful when I eat. She
took the family to tour the countys 911 call
center, where they had had an emotional meeting
with Morris. A lot of times we have no idea what
happens after the call, Morris said. Its nice
to know the outcome was good. Kinsey was
featured on local television and welcomed back to
school after spring break as a hero. In April she
was awarded the Heartsaver Hero Award from the
American Heart Association for her
levelheadedness and bravery in an emergency
situation. And theres another benefit for
Kinsey, who recently had a birthday and
officially became a teenager.
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Its become kind of a little joke, Glen said.
She says, Mom, you know I did save your life
and all. You really cant ground me for a
while. Learn more about CPR Classes.
Bergenfield, NJ, Jersey City, NJ, Livingston, NJ,
and Queens, New York and Gainesville,
FL. Source https//newsarchive.heart.org
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