SEATTLE — Doctors, medical professionals and first responders from around the world gathered in Seattle this week to share the latest advances in CPR.
They also celebrated survivors, whose stories are a reminder of the importance of first aid training.
“I get to still be here, to be a wife and a mother and a daughter and a friend, and it's due to all these layers of the chain of survival in our system,” said Heather Kelley, one of more than 50 cardiac arrest survivors who gathered on Thursday evening.
Kelley was walking to the Seahawks Super Bowl victory parade in Seattle with her daughters in February 2014 when she collapsed.
She said one of her daughters tried to dial 911, but because of the huge crowds, the call wouldn’t connect.
“My 15-year-old got down on her knees, unzipped my coat, and started CPR, which she had learned in her 7th-grade health class,” Kelley said.
Paramedics arrived, took over, and brought back Kelly's pulse, but her daughter was the first responder.
“She knew what to do, and she was courageous, and she acted and she helped save my life,” Kelley said.
The survivor gathering was hosted by Medic One Foundation. It was part of a cardiac arrest survival summit.
“There are people here from more than a dozen countries and they came to Seattle specifically because they know that we do a good job resuscitating patients from out-of-hospital cardiac arrests and they wanted to learn from us,” said Dr. Michael Sayre, the medical director for the Seattle Fire Department.
They discussed how to expand over-the-phone CPR instruction delivered by 911 dispatchers.
They also considered how to get more people using apps like PulsePoint, which connect CPR-trained people with nearby individuals in distress.