Off-duty “save” by CVAC member at Club Fit

January 29, 2010
by Christine Yeres

On Monday, January 25, during a daylong torrential rain accompanied by high winds, Carey Vames’ house lost power around 2:00 p.m.  After waiting a half hour for the power to return, she decided to get on with her life. She dropped her son, Brett, at the library to study for mid-terms, took her dog, a whippet named Clif, to Gedney, then drove to Club Fit in Briarcliff Manor at around 4:00 p.m. to exercise. She completed a couple of cardio cycles and had moved on to lift weights when she heard a “Code Blue” announcement over the loudspeaker, “Client down in fitness!”

“I saw one of the managers in her high heels sprinting toward the fitness center,” recalled Vames, “and I followed.”

“A crowd had gathered,” Vames explained, “You could tell that it was serious. People were screaming, ‘Somebody call 9-1-1!’ and ‘Get the AED!’  I shouted that I was an EMT and, from inside the crowd, an arm reached out and pulled me in.” A 51-year-old male had collapsed and fallen backward off the treadmill he had been using. When Vames reached him, she felt for breathing and a pulse. He had both. But within thirty seconds he had neither. Vames saw the man’s face begin to turn blue from lack of oxygen.

Vames and Club Fit staff members start rescue breaths and CPR compressions

Club Fit staff member Tiffany Beeman had pushed a pocket mask into Vames’ hand and she used it to deliver two “rescue breaths” to the man, then began CPR compressions, counting loud and clear—from “one” to “thirty.”  Club Fit staff member Terry Lanza shouted out the numbers along with her. Lanza as well as staff members Tim Johns and Barbara Cullen all took turns at chest compressions. Staff member David Xavier kept the patient’s head in position and administered breaths between the rounds of compressions. 

“They were incredibly professional, a real team,” recalled Vames. By the third round of 30 compressions and the two rescue breaths, someone had fetched the AED and handed Vames the pads to attach to the patient.  The machine analyzed the patient’s condition and recommended that a shock be administered, which Vames did. More compressions and analysis by the AED, then the go-ahead from the machine for a second shock.

After the third shock, the patient sputtered and was breathing. By that time, the Ossining police and the Ossining Volunteer Ambulance Corps had arrived with a medic, and they applied an oxygen mask to the patient, packed him up, and transported him by ambulance to the hospital. 

Vames returned to her exercise. “I’m that inflexible,” she joked. “I hadn’t finished my exercise.  I did another 15 minutes and then remembered that Clif was in the car, with a back window cracked. I ran out and found him fast asleep.” 

CVAC commends one of their own on a job well done

Vames attended the Chappaqua Volunteer Ambulance Corps’ monthly meeting that night, partly just to keep warm, she said, since her power was still out at home. Word had traveled and her colleagues received her warmly, pressing for details of her off-duty “save.”  CVAC’s First Lieutenant, Anne Boyd, presented Vames with a commendation, and members left their meeting that night planning how they would react in similar circumstances.

Reached afterwards, Boyd had this to say: “Chappaqua Volunteer Ambulance Corps is extremely proud of our member, Carey Vames, for stepping into a critical situation and performing emergency care with expertise.  Her training as an EMT for our corps has carried with her into everyday life. How fortunate we all are for individuals like this in our communities.”

Vames’ power came back on at 11:30 a.m. the next morning, Tuesday. She learned on Wednesday that her patient had undergone successful cardiac surgery.
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To sign up for CVAC’s next family-friendly CPR and AED training, or to find out about other CPR training opportunities nearby, email {encode=“info@chappaquaambulance.org” title=“info@chappaquaambulance.org”}