LIFESAVERS

Nursing students save classmate with CPR

When a shard of glass from an ashtray hit then 12-year-old Rich Zerbey in the jugular, he was taken to the hospital by a crew from the Goshen Fire Company.

When he had a cardiac arrest at 63, his fellow nursing students at Delaware County Community College were the lifesavers.

Using the techniques they learned just months earlier, six classmates took turns performing CPR after Zerbey collapsed in the shuttle transporting them from Chester County Hospital. They applied compressions, checked for a pulse and listened for breath sounds until police arrived with a defibrillator.

“We learn to keep the patient ‘warm and pink’ and viable until the AED can be administered,” said Zerbey. “I was surrounded by the best group I could have been.”

A resident of East Goshen,

“We learn to keep the patient ‘warm and pink’ and viable until the AED can be administered. I was surrounded by the best group I could have been.” — Rich Zerbey

Zerbey has volunteered since 2013 with the Good Fellowship and Goshen ambulance corps. After retiring from his career as a professional musician performing and teaching guitar, he enrolled in the college’s paramedic course. Although he appreciated the ability to assist individuals on the way to the hospital, he felt a disconnect once they safely arrived.

“We spent a lot of time in the ER at Delaware County Memorial Hospital and Crozer Medical Center,” he said. “I really liked ER nursing because it has a lot

of patient contact and decided I wanted to do that instead.”

Zerbey was accepted into the college’s nursing program in the fall. The course, which leads to an associate degree, includes on and offcampus classes. For Chester County residents, the latter is available at Chester County Hospital.

The semester began in the midst of an ongoing construction project and parking spaces were scarce. Nursing students and a number of employees were required to leave their vehicles on the lot of West Goshen Shopping Center and ride the shuttle to and from class or work.

Shortly after the bus left the hospital Oct. 6, Zerbey’s

eyes became glazed and his speech delayed. He was unconscious and suddenly fell onto the seat next to Kalli Krier.

“I was the first person to see him,” she said. “It was all happening in slow motion – he looked like he had passed out.”

Nursing students are required to complete a basic lifesaving class for hospital clearance. Drawing on their CPR knowledge, they lowered him to the floor and Taylor England, Allison Keeports and Melissa Robinson began compressions as Jill Peterson performed respirations. Sarah Fryberger called 911 and police and an ambulance arrived within three minutes.

“At first we thought it could be low blood sugar, but then he turned purple,” said England. “We knew we needed to do something.”

Zerbey noted he did not experience any signs or symptoms, adding he had been doing “all the crazy things I have been doing for the last 40 years.” Following a triple bypass, he has returned to his daily routine, with one exception. The nursing program is intense and due to missing class time he was forced to withdraw. Zerbey plans to re-apply for September admission.

“I’ve been lifting weights and walking,” he said. “I ran my first 10-minute mile a few weeks ago.”

Although nursing school

is extremely hands-on, initial patient contact is limited to making beds and escorting individuals to appointments. The experience provided a window into the future.

“I used to wonder what I would do if I was in a patient’s room and he had an arrest,” said Keeports. “Now I am now a little more confident – I realized we can do this.” • February is American Heart Month. For information such as the warning signs of cardiac arrest,

heart attack and stroke, visit the American Heart Association website at www.heart.org.

LESLIE KROWCHENKO — DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Delaware County Community College nursing students Melissa Robinson, checking pulse, and Allison Keeports, listening for breath sounds, used a training mannequin to demonstrate the CPR performed on fellow student Rich Zerbey.