(ST. JOSEPH, Mo.) Last Thursday, an act of selflessness and quick thinking came from Cheryl Daniels, a nurse at Mosaic Life Care, as she saved a man who was choking on his food at the Frederick Inn Steakhouse, which ended up saving his life.
If you see someone choking, it’s extremely important to think and act fast, as every second counts when it comes to life or death.
This is what Cheryl Daniels did last Thursday, as she performed life saving CPR on a man who had stopped breathing and had no pulse.
“We tried to do the heimlich with him sitting in the chair. And that didn’t work. Unfortunately, he stopped breathing. And he was pulseless. So the gentleman in the bar side of the restaurant helped us lower him to the floor. So I was able to straddle him do the heimlich maneuver. And it didn’t work initially. So we did some CPR on him. And thank goodness, we got him back. It was very exciting to get him back. And I was so grateful.” Said Daniels.
The man was taken to the hospital and has since made a great recovery, and he is grateful for what Cheryl did for him.
Since the incident, Cheryl and Mosaic want to emphasize the importance of aeds and how crucial it is people know how to perform CPR in case the need arises.
“You never know when you’re going to be in a situation where you can help somebody, the highest cause of choking is food. And so if you’re in a restaurant, and you don’t have CPR trained people, or you don’t have equipment, such as AEDs, or the choking devices that are out there now, it’s just really hard to take care of people and rescue them. And time is brain. I mean, the longer somebody doesn’t breathe, it you have more risk for not surviving and you have more risk for brain injury.” Continued Daniels.
Cheryl has since received an award from Mosaic for her act of service, but wishes to use her skills to save more lives and emphasize the importance of CPR.
Her colleagues share the same thoughts and are proud to be able to work with her.
“And I think more people just across the board need to know how to do it. They need to know how to use AEDs. I think it needs to be more widespread taught across the nation. Because I think it’s important that everybody know how to do it.” Said Kristi Guess, the lead supervisor nurse at Mosaic.
Frederick Inn Steakhouse has since learned from the experience, and has bought a choking device and trained their staff in CPR.
Mosaic wants to emphasize how important it is people know to perform CPR, and has offered some places where anyone can learn.
Some places that offer training is the American Heart Association, the Red Cross, and a local group of firefighters that offer classes.
To contact them, you can call them at 816-646-5067.