Top Story Cathedral High student administers CPR, saves life Story by Jeremiah Begley (Photo courtesy of Cathedral High School) WILBRAHAM – Cathedral High School student Cam Griffin never expected his ride home from hockey practice to require an act of heroism. On Oct. 30, Griffin, a 17-year-old junior from West Springfield, administered life-saving CPR to a man who had collapsed while jogging in Ludlow. Griffin was heading home from dry-land training last Thursday with his teammate Tim Zmuda, a 15-year-old sophomore. As they drove down Chapin Road between the police station and Ludlow High School, they saw another of their teammates and his father tending to a man lying on the sidewalk. They pulled the car over and asked what had happened. Witnesses told the boys that the unconscious man “was running and he just fell, out of nowhere,” said Griffin. “We thought maybe he might have hit his head.” At that point, a pair of brothers arrived, both of whom identified themselves as nursing students. “They asked me to take his pulse,” said Griffin, “and I went down there, and I checked his carotid (artery), and there was no pulse.” Griffin informed the brothers that he was certified to perform CPR, and after checking the man’s wrist, chest, and leg for a pulse, he and one of the nursing students began performing chest compressions. “He did like two minutes, and I did like 45 seconds to a minute,” said Griffin. “When he got tired, I would switch with him…he was better than I was.” Griffin earned his CPR certification through an initiative of the Kevin J. Major Memorial Scholarship Fund for Youth Sports, a foundation named for a young man who drowned tragically in Congamond Lakes in 2011. Kevin Major’s mother, Sue Canning, is a close friend of the Griffin family, and it was Kevin’s brother, Sean, who taught Griffin how to perform CPR. Zmuda, who watched and waited for emergency personnel to arrive, was impressed with his teammate’s efforts. “He was very calm throughout the situation, said Zmuda, who does not have CPR certification. “I think his training really helped out a lot.” After a few minutes, an ambulance arrived, along with Ludlow police officers. They unloaded an automatic external defibrillator (AED) and prepared to use it on the victim. “We kept doing compressions while they set up the AED,” said Griffin. When the technicians checked the man’s pulse, “he had a minimal heart rate. We got a heart rate out of him by doing our compressions, but it was around, I want to say, 10-15 beats a minute. It was very faint; it was not a strong heartbeat.” After a police officer relieved Griffin and the nursing student, the rescuers used the defibrillator to administer a shock to the victim’s chest. “They shocked him, and they were able to get a pulse,” recalled Zmuda. Griffin and the others helped load the patient onto a stretcher, which was then loaded into the ambulance. “They said he was talking in the ambulance,” said Griffin. “He was back to life.” Just before the ambulance pulled away, said Griffin, “the policeman came out, and he was like, ‘Whoever just did CPR saved this guy’s life.’” Zmuda noted that Griffin’s intervention came at the critical moment: “In only four minutes, he would have been brain dead from not getting enough oxygen.” Griffin’s courage has drawn praise and admiration from the Cathedral community. Lynn Callahan, who teaches Griffin and his twin sister, Lexi, in an upper-level Spanish course, described him as “a wonderful, outgoing student,” and said her “heart was full” when she heard of his actions. “I knew God had put him there for a reason,” she added. “I’m just so proud of him.” Zmuda put it more succinctly: “He’s a real hero.” For his part, Griffin says his Cathedral education helped him keep his composure during the incident. “For a little bit I was nervous, but then the adrenaline kicked in and I started doing my job,” he said. “I didn’t think about it.” Griffin also noted that “in health class we’ve learned about CPR” and “prepared for some situations that happen in an emergency.” In other words, “I was ready to do what I had to do.” His most important preparation, however, was not merely academic. Griffin still does not know the name of the man he saved, but, he said, “I went to bed that night and prayed for him.”
Posted on: Sat, 08 Nov 2014 19:43:17 +0000
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