11/11/2023
Christine woke to find her husband Sal unresponsive and immediately called 911. The dispatcher told her she needed to start CPR and explained exactly how to do it. Christine put the heel of one hand in the center of his chest, and placed the other hand on top and interlocked the fingers. She started compressions as the dispatcher counted with her. As the minutes ticked by, Christine grew tired, but adrenaline kept her going until paramedics arrived.
At the hospital doctors found he had three blocked arteries. Three days later, after Sal woke up from an induced coma, he had open-heart surgery.
As he recovers, Sal, a bassist who has toured the world with heavy metal bands, thinks a lot about CPR. He's thankful to Christine for performing it and thankful for the dispatcher who walked her through it.
"We're all for 911 operators knowing CPR because that was the key to my survival," Sal says. Here's his Story From the Heart: http://spr.ly/6182uVKOI
