CPR

Today I responded to a call in my role as a fire department chaplain for a woman who was "unconscious and not breathing". That's not a good sign. Additional info from dispatch told us that "CPR is in progress". Not good, either. Too often the result of those calls is death.

The husband of the unconscious and not breathing woman called 911. Then he ran next door (these were vacationers in a motel). Upon their arrival yesterday they met the "neighbors". As God would have it, their next door neighbor, also on vacation, is an ICU nurse at Henry Ford hospital in Detroit, MI. She was able to start CPR right away and continue until EMS arrived just minutes later.

The patient is in critical condition right now, but her heart is beating on its own and she's been transported to a cardiac hospital. The medical pros, from the paramedics and firefighters on scene to the ER doc all said that the vacationing nurse saved this woman's life by being there and doing exactly what she did.

She (the heroine neighbor) told me, "This is the first time I've ever done this outside of the hospital. But I've always told myself to be prepared whereever I am."

Good advice. In a situation like this one today, seconds are precious. Do you know CPR?

I thanked her for being there, telling her that God brought her to that motel and put her in that room for the purpose of saving another's life. She kept the blood and oxygen flowing to the patient's brain. She and her husband should have been out on the beach, but stayed in the room because it is so hot today. Well, who controls the atmospheric thermostat? God put it all together to save a life.

Likewise, He has us where He wants us every day for the purpose of saving spiritual lives. We're on a mission. Be prepared; today might be the day you will be needed to make a huge difference in someone's eternity.