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Letter: Nurse saves resident’s life

August 8, 2013 By The Suburban Times

When Zoraida Otero was called for assistance in resident Joan Holeman’s room, she didn’t know what to expect.  But when she entered the room and saw Joan lying on the floor unconscious and not breathing, she knew exactly what she had to do.  “My nursing skills kicked into high gear and I immediately knew what needed to be done. “ She started the steps for CPR.  That quick reaction saved Joan’s life.

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Zoraida was sweating and breathing hard while she was fully engaged performing CPR.  She remembers telling Joan “stay with me” over and over.  Zoraida thought she had lost Joan because it felt like a long time had passed.  But Joan finally woke up and took a breath.   Then the paramedics arrived and took over. That’s when Zoraida was able to step back.  Then the emotions hit.  First, how thankful she was that Joan was back; paramedics were there and everything was going smoothly.  Second, how grateful she was for her staff’s quick thinking and organization; and last, how proud she was of herself.  “I’m a good nurse, and I did what I was supposed to.  That’s my job.”

Joan and her family are also thankful for Zoraida and the staff of Peoples Retirement Community.  They are happy Zoraida performed CPR to save Joan’s life.  So thankful, Joan and her family catered lunch for the entire staff.  Joan says “that day was a celebration of life.  Without the staff’s quick thinking and reactions, I would not be here.”

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Comments

  1. Happy I could help says

    August 9, 2013 at 9:21 am

    Way to go, Zoraida!
    Everyone should learn CPR. Our children should learn it in elementary, middle and again in high school. In my opinion it should be a requirement for high school graduation. However, the people that really should learn CPR are our senior citizens. How many seniors will have a heart attack and the only support available is their senior spouse. Remember it will take 4 minutes or longer for the Fire Department to arrive. That 4 minutes is a very long time if your loved ones heart has stopped!
    Step out of your comfort zone and learn CPR.
    My day went from great to near panic while I was having an early dinner at a local restaurant when a woman at a nearby table stood up and said ‘somebody call 911, my baby is choking’. I had another person call 911 and then I went to the other table and began the heimlich maneuver on a 4 year old boy. The Fire Department took little guy to the hospital and about 45 minutes later the waiter came to my table and said I had a phone call. It was the father of the boy. Once I was on the phone the father gave the phone to his son and the little boy said ‘thank you’ to me. That made my day go back to being great.
    By the way, they teach the heimlich maneuver and CPR in the same class.
    I would like to say that if you take a CPR class you will be doing yourself a favor but in truth, you may be doing someone else a favor that you will remember for the rest of your life.

    • zoraida says

      August 13, 2013 at 8:43 pm

      Thank you and I agree everyone should know CPR. You should listen to the Bakersfield California call when nurse did not perform cpr.

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