Jordan Turner, an O’Brien Kia employee from Bloomington, Illinois collapsed while preparing a vehicle for delivery. Many people including employees, a firefighter and a former Mayo clinic employee all came to the rescue when it was discovered that he had no pulse.

Bloomington Fire Department arrived on the scene to perform CPR, but were unable to resuscitate him. Turner was then taken in an ambulance to the hospital, and on the way to the hospital, his pulse restarted by paramedics.

Turner made it through procedures and was admitted to the intensive care unit where an internal defibrillator was inserted.

The near tragedy turned into a life lesson for the president of the O’Brien Auto Team, Ryan Gremore. If there were to ever be a situation like that again, he wanted to make sure his staff was prepared to take on the situation. Gremore states, “We made that investment, we’re going to cover the costs of training for our people.”

The first round of training took place this year and 60% of the staff are now CPR and AED certified. Turner is among the percentage of people who are now certified and he too can possibly save a life one day.

Gremore says, it’s like having first responders on site,” when talking about the impact these certifications had on his store.

The American Red Cross provides class and training workshops for anyone who is interested in becoming certified in CPR and AED. Anything can happen and when the heart stops, you’re in a race against time.

June 1-7 is National CPR and AED Awareness week. We will be producing a PSA with the American Red Cross, presenting CPR training manikins and offering this life saving training. Help do your part and make sure our communities are prepared for a sudden cardiac arrest.