HARRISBURG, Pa. (AFPN) — To just go in, vote and get back
to work seemed like a reasonable expectation for Senior Master
Sgt. Glenn Parsons, ground safety supervisor for the Air
National Guard’s 193rd Special Operations Wing here.
But on his way from his job at the Pennsylvania Department
of Corrections to a lunchtime union-ratification meeting,
he had no idea what chaos and uncertainty awaited him.
About 50 state employees gathered in the meeting hall to
hear the options and cast their votes. Ten minutes into the
presentation, Parsons heard a thump, followed by an isolated
commotion and someone in the crowd mumbling, “He quit
breathing.”
Parsons immediately let his instincts and training take
over.
After urging bystanders to call for help, Parsons found
an unconscious man with no heartbeat. Jackie L. Becker had
fallen to the floor, suffering from an apparent heart attack.
Though panicked bystanders strongly urged Parsons to await
paramedics, he knew there was little time to waste. He began
cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) with the help of Joan
Barkley, a nurse and Pennsylvania state employee attending
the meeting.
“Everything just shut off around me, and I knew there
was only one thing to do and that was to get his heart started,” said
Parsons, who learned CPR through the Air Force and the department
of corrections.
“I would want someone to do it for me -- now! I just
pictured myself laying there and thought, ‘If that
was me laying there, what would I want someone to do?’ ” he
said.
Parsons performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, while Barkley
did chest compressions. The duo was able to restart Becker’s
heart and breathing three times in about 10 minutes. Paramedics
arrived and took him to Harrisburg Hospital.
“Brain cells start to die in four to six minutes without
resuscitation, so the sooner you start care the better chance
you have of surviving,” said Senior Airman Hali Jo
Confer of the 193rd Special Operation Wing medical readiness
and mobility section. “The likelihood of life after
10 minutes is slight at best.”
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