Feb 25, 2008
MEDIC FIRST AID Instructor Adam Levin is a deputy at the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Department in Portland, Oregon, and he’s been nominated for the Good Samaritan award by his colleague, Denise Taplin.
Deputy Levin’s emergency care training made a vital difference for an Oregon woman in late December. The 34-year-old bank manager was on her way to attend a foreclosure auction on the courthouse steps when she fell to her knees, vomited, and then collapsed. The following paragraph is Deputy Levin’s recollection of the event:
“Well, I was at work on December 28, 2007, at the Multnomah County Courthouse, and I heard a call from a courthouse security officer about a woman who had fallen. I thought that I would go see if I could help, because of my training. When I got there I knew that she was in trouble. I could hear that her breathing was labored and non-effective. So I told the Security Officer to move. I rolled the woman on her side and cleared her airway and got her breathing properly. An attorney came by and assisted me. Our patient stopped breathing again and I repositioned her airway and cleared it again and she began to breathe again. Checking her vitals I knew we were in trouble because her pulse was very fast and irregular, and then stopped altogether. I rolled her onto her back and started CPR as the firefighters came through the door and took over. I helped them out until the medics got there and then I continued to help them. We worked on her for half an hour before she was taken to the hospital. I later contacted the hospital and found out that she survived, and a couple of weeks ago she came in to thank me.”
The patient, Tara Conlon, credits Deputy Levin as being instrumental in saving her life. She presented him with a bouquet of flowers and a gold dog tag key chain. The key chain was engraved with words of thanks from Tara and her family and on the other side was one engraved word, “Hero.”
Ms. Conlon had spent four days in the hospital, where she was diagnosed with a genetic condition known as Long QT Syndrome. She had a defibrillator implanted and spent the month of January at home recovering and regaining her strength. She is now back at work and is grateful to Adam and the attorney, as well as the firefighters and hospital staff who helped make her recovery possible. Deputy Levin, who was a paramedic in San Diego before moving to Oregon, says he is just glad that he was able to help.
You are in the business of training people to save lives… and perhaps one of your students (or yourself) has had to use that training in a real-life emergency. If so, please drop us a note nominating your student (or yourself) for the MEDIC FIRST AID Good Samaritan Award. Click here to download the Good Sam nomination form.
