Twenty-six year-old nursing student Kayla St. Marie of Milwaukee was enjoying a quiet afternoon in the park when she heard a woman’s frantic screams. The woman’s 14-month old daughter was missing. St. Marie and a dozen other adults immediately began searching for the child. When another woman found the toddler floating in a fish pond, St. Marie sprang into action. “It’s funny, but when you just know what to do, everything stops, and you just go into a medical mode. It’s just your instinct to do everything you’ve been trained to do,” she said.
As a certified nursing assistant, her training kicked in and she started compressions until first responders arrived minutes later. St. Marie traveled to the hospital with the mother and child, and even gave updates to the little girl’s father until he was able to come to the hospital.
The child is said to have made a slow but full recovery. This tragedy really opened St. Marie’s eyes on the importance of getting everyone, not just nursing students, certified in CPR. You never know when an incident like this will happen, so it is incredibly crucial that you be prepared.
