Not many people can say they helped bring someone without a heartbeat or pulse back to life twice – but Oak Grove employees Tim Newman and Mike Reeves beat the odds, stepping up to help a site contractor suffering a cardiac arrest last November.
Both Newman and Reeves, safety specialists, were recently recognized with an award from the Brazos Valley Regional Advisory Council for their heroic efforts and quick action that day – a day that started out just like any other.
“Mike and I were eating lunch when we received a call from the guard station notifying us that someone called 911 from the plant. We immediately grabbed our trauma kit to head to the building where the call originated to see how we could help,” said Newman.
When Newman and Reeves arrived, they jumped into action, using their practiced safety training techniques to perform CPR on the unresponsive contractor.
“We immediately took his vitals and realized his heart wasn’t beating, he wasn’t breathing and he had no pulse,” said Reeves. “Even though he was only in his early 40s, the individual had a heart attack, and we needed to act fast to save his life. We performed CPR for about five minutes until the Oak Grove emergency response team arrived with the automated external defibrillator, or AED.”
With the emergency response team’s help, Newman and Reeves shocked the contractor with the AED until he started to breathe again. When they turned him over on his side to clear his airways, he stopped breathing again, requiring another shock to get his pulse back.
The Robertson County EMS soon arrived and began additional treatment until the victim was sent via helicopter to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Bryan. After three weeks of rehabilitation, the contractor made a full recovery and returned to work.