Amina was performing telephone triage for the MyCare Advice Line when she received a call from an elderly woman wanting to make an appointment for her adult son, whom she cared for, who had been experiencing shortness of breath for approximately 4 days. The son, in his 60s, had a history of MS and had become bedbound. The mother stated that she had been unable to get him up or roll him in several days, but that he was talking and had just taken Motrin before the call. The mother was not in the same room as the patient at the beginning of the call. When the mother returned to the patient's room to convey the triage questions for an accurate assessment, she found her son not breathing and unresponsive. Amina calmly had the mother watch for chest rise and fall, and feel for a pulse, neither was present. The mother stated that the patient had been given the last rites 2 - 3 days prior. Amina inquired about do-not-attempt-resuscitation orders. The mother stated that nothing like that was in place.

Amina instructed the mother on the need to call 911 and offered assistance in doing so. The mother requested help in calling 911. In our department's Teams thread, Amina asked her co-workers on duty if someone was available to call 911. A co-worker immediately agreed. While Amina assessed the mother's knowledge, ability, and willingness to perform CPR, she simultaneously typed information in the Teams thread to her co-worker so that it could be relayed to the EMS dispatch, including the patient's address. Amina coached the mother on the appropriate steps of administering CPR, including hand placement, straight stiff arms, and deep compressions. Though the patient's mother was unable to put Amina on speaker phone, she had to put the phone down while she performed CPR to the best of her ability. She would occasionally pick up the phone and check in with Amina. Amina provided encouragement, support, and updates to the mother while remaining calm. Once EMS arrived on the scene, the mother kept Amina on the phone as a source of comfort and asked Amina if she could call back and provide updates, to which Amina agreed.

I am nominating Amina for this award because, as nurses, we learn, practice, and administer CPR. However, unlike dispatchers, we are not trained to instruct CPR over the telephone to untrained, non-medical individuals. Amina had the wherewithal to simply voice the steps that she knew through her training. From assessing for respirations and a pulse to where to put her hands on the chest, Amina's actions were heroic, and her voice was calm. Undoubtedly, her action provided time for this mother to say her final goodbyes to her son. The son did make it to the hospital, and life support was removed after 2 days.