Rancho Bernardo High staffers save stranger’s life on vacation

Three instructional assistants from Rancho Bernardo High School ended their tropical vacation by saving a man’s life.

Cas’Sandra Turner, Isabel Gutierrez and Kimberly Cummings spent their spring break vacation in Hawaii with friend and co-worker Jane Armstrong. They never expected to end their trip by using their CPR skills to save a stranger, who was having a heart attack in the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu.

Turner said the four women, who work in the school’s Critical Skills department, arrived to the airport to fly home to San Diego four hours early. They were checking in their luggage when they heard someone call for help.

“I looked to the right and saw a gentleman face down on the floor,” said Turner, who is also a nurse at a local hospital.

Gutierrez ran to help and turned the man onto his side. “He wasn’t breathing, he was purple,” she said.

While Armstrong watched their luggage, Turner began performing chest compressions with Gutierrez’s help. Cummings called 911 and worked to clear the area of onlookers.

“I could feel the warmth and cold coming and going from his body,” said Gutierrez. “We just kept going and he slowly got his color back.”

CPR training is voluntary for PUSD employees, they said, but Turner, Gutierrez and Cummings have all stayed current on the training, as have many of their colleagues.

Turner said she checked the man, 71-year-old Portland, Oregon resident Lawrence Gill, and found he had no pulse or respiration. She used the airport’s automated external defibrillator to shock Gill three or four times. “I’ve been trained in (using the) AED but I’d never shocked anyone before,” Turner said. “(The situation was) scary, but I just focused on what I had to do.”

The women turned the situation over to the paramedics once they arrived and caught their flight home without knowing if Gill had survived. “I was in shock after, like, did this really happen?” said Gutierrez.

They were later able to speak to Gill and his wife, Audrey, via video chat during a press conference. “I’m so glad he pulled through and made it home to his wife and family,” said Turner. “It was so emotional, seeing him smiling, breathing. I’m glad to know everything turned out okay.”

Armstrong said she was impressed by the immediacy of her colleagues’ responses. “They just took over, no delay. It comes down to the incredible amount of training and their personalities. They take the initiative and don’t wait. My heart swelled with pride.”

Despite their actions, the three staffers say they do not want to be called heroes. “We were just in the right place at the right time,” Turner said.

Email: news@pomeradonews.com