Something happened last Friday that I haven’t really had the time to process yet. I was working in house at Maximum PC magazine after just completely a week at a sister publication that sits down the hall. The editor-in-chief and art director of the other magazine were both colleagues from my past. Last September two weeks after giving birth to a baby girl, the EIC had a severe stroke. It looked bad for a little while, but she has recovered beautifully. She returned to work, but has been back for a couple of months.

So on Friday, while I am sitting there working, there is a call for anyone who knows CPR. The EIC who had a stroke, has had a seizure and has stopped breathing. I went over to help with Gordon, who also knew CPR, even though we are both rusty. Everyone in her area was completely frozen, staring at her lying under her desk. She was on her back, her face gray and her lips turning blue, and she wasn’t breathing at all. Gordon tried to give her mouth to mouth, but her jaw was clamped shut, bitting into her lips. I sat by her head, and was getting ready to try and blow into her nose while he was trying to find a pulse. She had stopped breathing for about a minute and a half now, and we were seriously concerned, then suddenly she started breathing raggedly, blowing bubbles. We turned her on to her side and counted her breaths within a time period for the 911 operator. She slowly started to pink up, even though she was still unconscious and her eye were rolled back in her head. Gordon and I kept talking to her, and I used some reiki on her while we waited for the EMTs. She came too while they were working on her, and had no memory of the event.

I was really proud that I was able to take action and be calm and supportive while others were freaking out. I knew the EIC would be horribly embarrassed about the whole thing, and I feel for her. She was only in the hospital for a short while, and was back at work on Monday. But I really hope that office does something about first aid training, and it has really inspired me to get my first aid certification back in date. It was a very scary feeling, and I don’t know what I would have felt if I didn’t have my old training to make me feel like I knew what to do.

There is nothing more awful that seeing someone you know lying there not breathing. I dearly hope that it near happens again, but if it does, I will know what to do.

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