Many people have heard stories of someone just collapsing, and another person coming to the rescue just in time to save their life. That thought is usually followed by “If I were in that situation, what would I do?” Trinity High School teacher Mr. Wayne Kraus found himself in that situation when a man suddenly collapsed at Headliner’s Music Hall in Louisville Aug. 31.

     “The first band was finishing, and I was on the top level. I just saw a guy fall,” Kraus said.

     The man was 47-year-old John Keim. Kraus described the scene he came to once he got down the stairs: “A nurse was there and she had his shirt open about to do CPR, so I told her I know CPR. She did the breaths and I did the compressions.”

      After a few moments of this, Kraus said, the man began “gasping for breath, but his eyes were still rolled back.”

      After the nurse checked his pulse and concluded the pulse was present but inconsistent, another man approached and said he knew CPR.

      Kraus said,“We took turns doing the compressions because it can get very tiring. After about seven or eight minutes, the ambulance arrived.”

       Kraus said this was the first time he had ever used CPR, but he knew exactly what he was doing.

       “My first reaction was to see if I could help,” he said. “Afterward, it was just an adrenaline rush.”

       Kraus said it was great knowing he helped save someone’s life. “It feels good. I hate that I had to do it, but I’m glad I know how.”

       Not only was it Kraus’s first time using CPR, but the nurse who was first on the scene works at Baptist East Surgery PreOp and had never performed CPR.

       CPR can be a daunting task. Lucky for Kraus, he learned from Trinity teacher Mr. Joe Bryant, who has been teaching CPR for more than 20 years. Bryant hasn’t performed CPR either, but he hopes that if the situation arises, he could do what Kraus did.  

       Bryant said, “Basically, as far as CPR is concerned, if the victim is not breathing, you would start the steps of CPR. It used to be that you would check breathing and pulse. The basic CPR class standards have changed a bit because the rationale is that most people take too long to check for a pulse. Now it’s just signs of breathing, and if there are no signs, then start CPR.”

       Bryant explained a few CPR steps: “First, check if the victim is responsive. Gently tap them on the shoulder and ask ‘Are you okay?’ If no response, tell someone to call 911.”

       A person giving CPR should also look for the nearest automated external defibrator. AEDs can be seen in most schools and large public places.

      Bryant said the proper way to use an AED is to “use the pads directly on the skin. You have to expose the skin by removing clothing. Hair will also get in the way, so every AED will have a Bic razor with it. You would have to do a dry shave if the victim is a male with a hairy chest. Get the nearest AED. My class knows where the closest AED is (on campus).”

      Step three, Bryant said, involves the most well-known part of CPR: “Take 5 to 10 seconds to see if the victim is breathing. If there’s no sign of breathing, then do 30 chest compressions, and give two breaths. Continue until EMS or an AED arrives.”

      Bryant said CPR isn’t a cure; it’s just a temporary fix. He said, “CPR buys time. It circulates oxygen in the blood just to keep the victim alive until EMS or an AED arrives.”

       For Keim, Kraus and two others came by just in time. Keim was taken to Jewish Hospital downtown and released on Sept. 9.

         Kraus said Keim’s wife took down his phone number, but Keim hasn’t called yet.  He said, “I’ll probably call him at work to check up if he doesn’t call soon.”