Local Flight Attendant Performs CPR: Saves Life of a Complete Stranger

Mary Kay, Jacqueline and Clackamas Fire District firefighters hope that this story will motivate more people to learn about CPR and AED's

Courtesy: athletics.psu.edu

(MILWAUKIE, Ore.) - On October 17th at 6:30 pm a local flight attendant performed CPR on a woman that went into cardiac arrest at the Safeway store located at 14840 SE Webster Road in Milwaukie.

Mary Kay Stupfel was shopping that evening and without any warning, her heart stopped and she fell to the floor.

A local flight attendant named Jacqueline Countryman who had recently completed her annual CPR training for her job, knew exactly what to do and began chest compressions on Mary Kay within seconds of her collapse. Another shopper called 911.

When the firefighter/paramedics from Clackamas Fire arrived on scene, they were surprised and impressed to see Jacqueline doing such focused and "by the book" chest compressions. Jacqueline continued compressions while the crew readied their equipment.

The crew attached Mary Kay to the defibrillator and provided one life saving shock. Her heart responded well as they continued to help her breathe. During transport to the hospital she even began to breathe on her own. The crew and doctors all agree the only reason Mary Kay is alive today is due to the chest compressions, the shock provided by the crew and most of all the quick reaction of flight attendant Jacqueline Countryman.

The very next day the American Heart Association released the new CPR standards. These new standards recommend that "hands only" CPR be performed by lay rescuers like Jacqueline. The new standards go on to say that these compressions need to be performed "hard and fast" 100 times a minute on the center of the chest, with a depth of 2 inches. Studies have also shown that this new focus on compressions, before ventilations, provides vital blood flow to the heart and brain and out-of-the hospital survival rates are higher because of this.

A link to the new standards is at static.heart.org/eccguidelines/index.html

Mary Kay, Jacqueline and Clackamas Fire District firefighters hope that this story will motivate more people to learn about CPR and AED's, and how easy it is to save the life of another person.

Jacqueline will be given the "Citizen Life Saving Award" presented to her by the Fire Chief at the November 15th Clackamas Fire District Board Meeting which begins at 7pm.

Mary Kay and Jacqueline are both available for interviews through the Clackamas Fire PIO or the media is welcome to attend the award ceremony. They will both be present and available for interviews along with crew members that resuscitated Mary Kay.

Source: Clackamas Fire Dist. #1