Office employee on lunch break assists in successful resuscitation of a patient at MGH main entrance

Last Friday afternoon at approximately 3 PM a MUHC office employee was at the Montreal General Hospital-Cedar street entrance coffee shop buying a coffee and sandwich. When she noticed an elderly man lying motionless on the lobby floor being attended to by a resident.

She quickly walked up to the resident and asked if there was a pulse, the reply was no. She offered to help with the CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation).  As the resident performed chest compression’s the office employee performed the mouth-to-mouth rescue breaths.
After a second breath, the patient came too and started to breathe on their own. She remained to provide assistance until the code blue team arrived.

Brain Oxygen Deprivation: At the one-minute mark, brain cells begin dying. At three minutes, neurons suffer more extensive damage, and lasting brain damage becomes more likely.

A witness who asked to remain anonymous informed Our MUHC, that they were amazed, “… there was no hesitation on her part, she put down her food and performed mouth to mouth on the man, it was amazing”.
“Very proud of her.”, was the comment from former Interim CSN President, Manuel Fernandes. “Often in the media, it can appear hospitals are operated solely by doctors and nurses. There exist thousands of support staff which too often get ignored, so when one shines, they all shine.”
The employee requested her name is not published.
CPR is a lifesaving technique useful in many emergencies, including a heart attack in which someone’s breathing or heartbeat has stopped.  For information on CPR training visit the Canadian Red Cross