Brigette Bell was eating dinner with some colleagues last January, when CPR became the topic of discussion.“I remember someone saying, ‘No mouth-to-mouth. You just get on their chest and you don’t stop compressions,’” she said. This type of CPR is called “Hands-Only CPR”, and only requires chest compressions without any breaths.
But Brigette didn’t know how important that conversation was until she had to perform CPR on her own husband. Eric Bell is in relatively good shape; he swims regularly and while his cholesterol can sometimes get a little high, it’s never really been a concern. On the night of January 13, he went to bed feeling very strange. He had felt some chest tightness earlier while swimming but just thought he was getting out of shape. He told his wife that he wanted to go to the hospital, and that’s the last thing he remembers.
Eric had a blockage in his heart, which caused him to lose consciousness. Their 17-year old son Harry, immediately began chest compressions while Brigette dialed 911. When Harry told his mother he was getting tired, she took over while a 911 dispatcher counted out the compressions. Harry and Brigette thought they were “failing miserably”, but in reality, those compressions are what saved Eric’s life. He made a full recovery, and now he and his family have adopted a healthier lifestyle.
