I have pictures of Nick doing a motorbike race last weekend but can't download them because my computer has smoke coming out of it! So, I have been using Nick's computer instead but it doesn't have a place for me to put my camera card in.
Anyways, here's an interesting story that happened today...I worked at World Gym this morning and then stayed for a while doing some cardio. While reading a magazine on the elliptical I looked up when this lady yelled, "Do you need help? Do you need help with her?" I looked over to the strength training area to witness one of our personal trainers straining to catch a girl as she was falling from one of the weight benches onto the floor. I started running over and saw her legs twitching and yelled for someone to call 911. There was a puddle of orange gatorade on the floor on one side of the weight bench and the girl was on the other side lying on the floor, seeming pretty coherent by the time I arrived. Her lips were blue, her skin pale, and her pulse felt weak, but I asked her if she was okay and she replied yes. I asked the personal trainer if she had low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) and he said yes. I then asked her the same question to see how aware/responsive she was and she said yes also. She was responding clearly to other questions so she seemed to be alert/aware of the situation. I grabbed her juice and gave it to the personal trainer and told him he needed to start having her drink some to raise her blood sugar levels. Apparently she had not eaten breakfast or anything for a long time so her blood sugar had most likely been low before she even came to work out. After grabbing the juice to give to the girl, the other lady who had arrived before me butted in and told her her name, "...certified in first aid/cpr...blah,blah,blah" asking her questions like medical history and stuff like that, but I felt like she was wasting time because it was apparent what had happened and that the girl needed to drink some juice right away to raise her blood sugar...not lay there shaky and pale while the lady tried to be a hero by asking questions. I just didn't feel like she was putting the girl first...More like trying to get recognition by going through all the preliminary first aid steps with the girl instead of actually recognizing what needed to happen to help the girl. Don't get me wrong, I am all up for following the cpr/first aid procedures but this situation had a simple solution and I didn't understand what the lady was thinking. So finally the trainer was able to cut in and we had the girl sit up and had her sip on juice until the paramedics arrived. Anyways, that's my crazy story for today. I was ready to give CPR if it had been needed but luckily it didn't come to that.
You know what though? I've always been nervous about emergency situations and wondered how I would react and what I would do. In first aid class at BYU-Idaho we talked about deciding to act before even coming upon an accident so we would have already made the decision to act/help when coming upon a risky situation. This is especially important when it comes to saving a life. Sister Parkinson would question us, "Are you willing to give CPR if you don't have a CPR mask and the victim has blood coming out of his/her mouth? Are you willing to help the victim if they are covered in body fluids and might be HIV positive?" Given this "girl passing out at the gym" situation wasn't near that serious, it has still made me think about that. And yes, I believe I would do anything I could to save a life. I imagine when you are in a serious situation your connection with the person needing help becomes very deep and personal. You would do anything you could to save that person's life. Stuff to ponder I guess.
Moral #1 of the story: Eat before you workout! ESPECIALLY if you are hypoglycemic to start out with!!!
Moral #2: Decide to help before you are even faced with an emergency situation! You never know when someone might need your help! By choosing to help without hesitation, you can save lives!
