Two Baptist CVS Nurses Receive Award After Aiding Victims in Distress

Jackson, Miss. - April 14, 2003 - Two Baptist Medical Center cardiovascular surgery nurses were presented American Heart Association's Heartsaver Awards by AHA Regional Manager Karen Bell. Nora Langford, also a CPR instructor, and Rachel Dyer helped victims in a time of need.

While on her way to San Francisco with her mother, Langford successfully defibrillated an unresponsive victim in an airport in Phoenix. Langford and her mom were at Gate C-13 in the Phoenix airport, waiting to board their plane to San Francisco. An announcement was made asking for any medical personnel to report to Gate C-17 for assistance. Langford ran to the gate, where she was flagged down and shown to an unresponsive, pulseless, breathless man lying on the floor. As she was holding the victim's airway open and about to give a rescue breath, a security guard on a bicycle arrived with an AED (Automatic Electronic Defibrillator). The guard sat the defibrillator at the victim's feet, and Langford noted he was having difficulty opening the case that holds the machine. She directed the guard to give her the AED. She immediately opened the case, applied the AED Pads and visualized the rhythm which was Pulseless Ventricular Tachycardia. She programmed the AED to deliver 1 shock, and the rhythm immediately converted to Supraventricular Tachycardia. Langford opened the victim's airway, and he took one long gasp and started breathing again. She maintained the victim in the recovery position until paramedics arrived ten minutes later. They applied an oxygen mask on the victim, gave some meds and transported him to a local hospital.

Dyer rescued people in distress on two separate occasions. On a recent morning, Dyer walked into the Baptist cafeteria, and a cafeteria employee told her there was a visitor who needed her help. Dyer ran to the table where the victim was and saw the victim having a seizure. Dyer eased the victim to a protected position on the floor. When the seizure was over, Dyer noted that the victim had food in her mouth. Dyer cleared the victim's airway with a fingersweep and maintained her airway. ER staff arrived to transport the victim. Recently during a trip to Wal-Mart, Dyer encountered another victim who had just collapsed. After questioning the victim's family members, Dyer determined that the victim was a diabetic and was having a hypoglycemic episode. The victim was unconscious but still breathing. Dyer asked for bystanders to get her some jelly. Someone had a pack of jelly and handed it to Dyer. She squeezed a small amount of jelly into the victim's mouth, while elevating the victim's head. Within moments, the victim regained consciousness, and Dyer maintained her in a recovery position until paramedics arrived. When the paramedics arrived, the victim was awake and alert. Paramedics checked the victim's blood sugar; it was beginning to normalize, so they did not even have to administer IV D50W.

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