He supposed to spend an ordinary morning but........

Hey, can you hear me? I am John an emergency responder, can I help you? I think that most of you remember these words and make you smile too because you associate it to a funny moment of your life, I mean you Basic Life Support training. During the Emergency First Response courses that I conduct I have the pleasure to see students, instructors candidates, scuba divers or simply interested on BLS, to smile, to have fun, to learn. To everyone I recommend to live peacefully the rescue and the answer I receive is " Yes, but let's hope it never happen "

Sure, let's hope it never happen. But what do we do when it happen?

Fabrizio Gatti from Torino in addition to be a friend is a passionate scuba diver and got his Energency First Response training with me.

Fabrizio sent to me an email that I would like to share with everyone, and he told me about a true story happened yesterday 5 October into the Pellerina Park - Torino. He thought to spend an ordinary morning but he helped and rescued a life.

I want to dedicate this post to him and to the many "Fabrizio" that every day find the strength to help someone.

I advice everyone to send me your true story about rescue moments, even if trivial rescues, where you applied your BLS skills

Sunday 5th October  - An ordinary Sunday morning like many others......what to do? Today no bubbles underwater, and to ride my bike cycle is too late.....then I go running, headphone, music, stopwatch and the Runtastic app as buddy. 10 minutes of warm up, then the rhythm grow up, the legs turn, Runtastic say 4 km done. The Pellerina Park it's amazing, there are many other runners and the autumn's colors are not here yet. I go on and I turn into a little road with trees beside in gentle ascend. The rhythm grow up. It's about 12.30pm. A group of people, a bike cycle and a person on the ground. Looks like 70 years old or more. Apparently unconscious. I go closer. He gasps. I entry into another dimension. I hear again the Filippo's voice like during the course. Antonio (that's his name discovered later) is there, stationary, unconscious, pale. I touch him and i ask him to give me a sign. Everyone there was just looking. Can you hear me? if you can hear me move your eyes. No reaction. I look, feel and listen. Is not possible is gonna happen to me. I ask someone to call the 118 (Italian EMS), a lady give her bag and I put it under the head of the man. What do I have to do now? Can you hear me? He still gasps. The pulse? wrist ...nothing, neck.....nothing. Then ??.....Like an instinct ......compressions then 2 ventilations.....yes like on that manikin during the course an then again another cycle and again (how it is called CPR!?!?) And after......under my left hand I feel heart's beats, restart the breathing ...Hey, can you hear me? If you can hear me move your eyes!!....The eyes moves. The face skin from pale become rose!!! Eyes come to life......Then I see coming symptoms of epileptic seizures, tongue between the teeths. I open the jaws and with help of others we hold your body......Finally ambulance, doctor and paramedics arrive. I hear your weak voice saying " I was just walking, put me down.....put me down. Fine. Paramedics load him on the ambulance...then run away....It's almost 1:00pm.

I back to my run session with thousand thoughts.....to you dear Fil, to everyone of us, to the EFR (BLS) courses and all that this experience leave me. I don't know if I am just been lucky or it's due the right emergency procedures applied. I will never know. Antonio is on his way. But I know that on the moments I had the courage to try to help him, and I knew what to do in that instant. I felt your words of many courses togethers, right there......with me!!

This is what I experienced. I still don't believe it happened to me. I have nothing to say more. We can discuss about courses, the right attitude, on how this things are important, on the fact that money are well spent and so on. I leave the time to discuss about it to you, our scuba diver friends and to all those who think that it is right in life...... to try !!!!!!

Fabrizio Gatti ( Divemaster PADI n.346964 )