Adrenaline rush at the airport

I was traveling this week on business. At my departure airport, on my way back to Atlanta, I arrived four hours early for my scheduled flight in hopes of catching an earlier one. Unfortunately the next flight was full, so I decided to enjoy my found time by writing some postcards and eating lunch.

It was while eating a Quizno's sandwich that I heard the thud behind me. I turned around to see an older man laying flat on his back, and so I rushed over to see if he was okay. The man, probably in his mid to late 70's, was out cold with his eyes rolled back into his head, and a woman came up and asked me if he had a pulse? I guess that would be a good thing to check, but I was in a complete state of shock that this was happening in front of me.

I put my fingers on his neck and told her that if he had one, it's too weak to feel. Only then did it hit me that this was serious. In the mean time, the man stopped breathing. So the woman took control (she later told me that she's a doctor) and directed me to give him chest compressions after she blew into him. She directed someone else to get the defibrillator and told another to call 911. After several series of breaths and chest compressions, the gentleman's lips and face started to turn red and then blue. The woman checked his pulse again, and there was nothing. He was dead. A few more series of breaths and chest compressions, and I opened up his shirt since the guy with the A.E.D. had returned. Someone read what the heck to do with this thing, and then they put it on his chest.

As this happened, though before he was shocked, his chest rose, and he opened his eyes. "What is your name?" someone asked. The man replied with his name. By then the paramedics had arrived, and I got the hell out of the way. The gentleman was stabilized and was taken to a nearby hospital.

It took me well over an hour for the adrenaline rush to subside. I was surprised and disappointed at my paralysis when confronted by the situation, and thank God that there was a doctor nearby who heard the man fall, was willing to get involved, and knew how to manage the situation. She saved a life today.