"The morning was just like any other ordinary morning as my wife Rhonda and I headed off for work."

Editor's Note: Charlie Gardner heads up the Operations Department at Houston County Electric Cooperative, one of our Texas clients. What follows is taken from a note he sent to me following my last consultation visit to the cooperative. The note started with, “During your last visit we discussed our AED program and my wife’s experience. I will attempt to tell her story.” What follows below is the story that he related in that note to me.  

The morning was just like any other ordinary morning as my wife Rhonda and I headed off for work. She is an elementary teacher for a small rural school and I am the operations superintendent at Houston County Electric Co-op.  Around midmorning I received a phone call telling me that Rhonda was being transported to the hospital because she had suffered heart failure. She had never had any heart issues and had been feeling perfectly healthy; this was the last thing I expected to hear.

When I arrived at the hospital, I learned that while she was teaching her class she suddenly collapsed. Her students immediately sped to the principal’s  office, who called for the school nurse and had 911 notified. The nurse grabbed the school’s AED and, along with the principal, dashed to the classroom. When they arrived they discovered Rhonda on the floor. Their first aid training kicked in, and, not finding a pulse, they applied the AED. Soon after the machine advised for a shock, a shock was given automatically. Her heart restarted at once and she quickly regained consciousness. When the paramedics arrived they took over her care and transported her to the hospital. After she was treated at the hospital, her doctors said if it had not been for the fast actions, including the first aid training and the use of an AED, her life would not have been saved.

Once her story was out, our co-op’s board decided to purchase enough AED’s to put one on all crew trucks, as well as in the warehouse and the office building. All cooperative employees were given training on AED use. A life was saved because of the availability of an AED and our co-op became better prepared for a cardiac emergency.  

Thanks to Charlie for sharing this very personal account. I have occasionally asked others in our program to make a contribution to our newsletter. I would hardly have imagined that I would ever run across and actually receive such an important and positive story. I hope you all will share this with your managers if you are finding it hard to justify adding enough AEDs to your safety equipment.

Charlie’s note ended simply, saying, “I hope this story helps.” Let’s make that hope into a reality.