Failure to Respond Poses the Real Threat to Survival!

It's 6:30 a.m. Two Federal Aviation Administration inspectors are enjoying a cup of coffee prior to beginning their duties at the American Airlines Training Center in Dallas when Inspector Ron Noe hears "someone snoring." He and Inspector Ray Trevino head over to investigate. They find a 50-year-old American Airlines pilot, Capt. Matt Taylor, on the ground, struggling to breathe. There are many people in the area, but they slowly move backward, forming a crowd of onlookers. The inspectors, who recently had completed their Emergency University Sudden Cardiac Arrest response training, are the only ones who step forward. They too, are apprehensive, having never seen a cardiac arrest victim, but they recognize this critical situation from their training and decide to follow the SCA response process they have learned. With hearts pounding, they assess Taylor, initiate CPR, grab the nearby AED, and attach the pads. The AED indicates a shock is advised, and they press the "Shock" button, then watch as the shock is delivered. Moments later, Captain Taylor slowly opens his eyes.

"It was amazing," Noe said afterward. "Within about a minute, I could see the life come back into his face." "What happened?" asked Taylor, bewildered, when he woke up minutes later. When EMS personnel arrived, he was able to climb onto the gurney himself.

At the time of his cardiac arrest, Taylor's wife was six months pregnant. After the birth of his daughter, he told us, "Had it not been for courageous actions of the FAA inspectors, my daughter would not have known what it was like to be held and loved by her father.”

So what did the Inspectors learn in their response training that gave them the confidence and skills to take action?

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