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Culinary Institute of America student Doug Chrisman collapsed in class just after 7:30 a.m. on Dec. 1, and he doesn’t remember what happened next – but everyone else does.
It was a Monday, and Kelly O’Connor, a registered nurse at the CIA in Hyde Park, had arrived early to work. When she overheard a group of students reporting a “student down” in kitchen 7, she says she grabbed her medical bag and went running. When she arrived in Chef Martin Frei’s classroom she saw Chrisman lying on the floor. He was unresponsive, she said, and he had a pulse but lost it. She immediately began applying rescue breaths, and that’s when campus safety officer Carl Wilson showed up. Wilson radioed for help, and began applying chest compressions while O’Connor supplied oxygen. That’s when a second safety officer, Lyle Burnett, showed up with an automated external defibrillator.
Together, Wilson and Burnett powered up the device and applied life-saving shocks to Chrisman, who regained consciousness but remained unresponsive. Afterward, Alamo Ambulance transported Chrisman to St. Francis Hospital.
This week, O’Connor said the chain of events that occurred that morning happened very quickly. She was by Chrisman’s side and supplying rescue breaths less than a minute after he collapsed, and Burnett arrived less than two minutes after Wilson and O’Connor began performing CPR. She said that the initial rescue breaths, combined with having oxygen and an AED on hand, were crucial to Chrisman’s survival.
O’Connor, a Red Hook resident and 2006 graduate of Dutchess Community College, said she has worked as an RN since graduation but never been part of a rescue before.
“Lots of people get trained in CPR, but never use it. It isn’t uncommon to go through your entire career and never use it,” she said. “I’m thrilled to have been a part of it. I had a tragedy within my own family this year, and I’m so happy I was able to help Doug’s family. It’s a great way to end the year.”
Honored for their work
The rescue trio was recognized by the American Heart Association (AHA) during a Dec. 5 ceremony in the kitchen where Chrisman collapsed. Surrounded by fellow classmates, rescuers and CIA staff, an emotional Chrisman said he just wanted to return to class.
“I remember removing impurities from veal stock, and the next thing I knew I was in the hospital,” said Chrisman, an 18-year-old Missouri native. “From what I hear, I just collapsed.”
Classes at the CIA rotate in three-week blocks. Dec. 1 was the first day of a new rotation, and Chrisman was group leader in his class of 19 students.
“Everyone tells me that I kept saying I needed to get back to class. I kept telling everyone to get me out of here,” Chrisman recalled. “It was pretty hard for my parents to watch me,” he said.
Chisman’s mother, Sherri, said she was shocked to receive the telephone call that Monday morning. She said Chrisman has no medical history and neither she nor his father, Dale, have a history of heart problems.
“It was quite an alarming phone call, especially being so far away,” said Sherri. “It was a miracle that everything fell into place the way it did. I can’t express how much gratitude we owe (the rescuers) for saving his life,” she said.
Dale described the news of Chrisman’s cardiac arrest as “that call you never want to receive as a parent.”
He and Sherri were on hand to thank the rescuers at the Dec. 5 ceremony before heading back to Missouri.
“I think God has a plan for him. I don’t know exactly what that is yet, but he has something left to do here,” said Sherri.
Celebrating countywide
Dutchess County recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of the HEARTSafe Initiative, a community program which aims to recognize and honor the efforts of municipalities, businesses, educational institutions and other community organizations who have taken steps to potentially save the lives of cardiac arrest victims through the use of CPR and increased public access to defibrillation services. County officials kicked off the campaign at the CIA, and since then, the CIA has promoted CPR training and AED placement to become a “HEARTSafe” company.
According to the AHA, more than 310,000 people across the country die from coronary heart disease each year before reaching a hospital or emergency room. Most of the deaths result from sudden cardiac arrest and 75 to 80 percent occur at home. When cardiac arrest occurs outside of a hospital setting most victims die because CPR and defibrillation were not provided, or were provided too late.
To remedy this, the American Heart Association provides a full range of training and information to help people learn to perform effective CPR, and on Dec. 16, that’s precisely what Chrisman and his classmates, along with Frei, did. Made possible with a donation from Laerdal Medical, a national supply company, the entire class received the AHA’s “CPR Anytime Kit” and participated in a group training session.
Chrisman had a defibrillator implanted in his chest at the Vassar Heart Center following his cardiac arrest, and returned to class within the week. Now, he says, he’s feeling back to normal.
“I’m so thankful that everybody knew what to do. Lots of campuses don’t have the AEDs, and we have six of them on campus. The nurse and campus safety officers – they knew exactly what to do,” said Chrisman. “I basically owe them life.”
