Recently, Ms. Sylvia was leaving an appointment in Towson. She encountered another woman who was walking into a nearby Chipotle. Ms. Sylvia began a conversation with the woman as they walked into Chipotle. During the conversation, the woman told Ms. Sylvia that she wasn't feeling too well and hadn't been feeling well since the day before. Ms. Sylvia immediately went into nursing mode. She asked the woman if she was a diabetic (she wasn't). She asked if she had high blood pressure (she did). Then, the woman stated that she'd been having left shoulder and back pain. At that point, Ms. Sylvia's nursing senses began to go off. She excused herself from the line and asked the worker behind the counter to call 911 because she feared the woman was having a heart attack. When Ms. Sylvia got back to the woman in the line, she noted that the woman was pale and diaphoretic. No sooner, the woman passed out. The gentleman behind her helped ease the woman to the floor. Ms. Sylvia performed a sternal rub and a quick pulse check and immediately began CPR until paramedics arrived. Ms. Sylvia, being the stellar nurse that she is, had a bag mask on her key chain that she quickly deployed and was able to use to give the woman rescue breaths. Ms. Sylvia was the only one to do compressions as no other bystander would help. When paramedics arrived, Ms. Sylvia continued to do CPR while the AED was being placed. Paramedics took over compressions and had to do 3 more rounds before ROSC. The paramedics got Ms. Sylvia’s name and number before transporting the woman to a nearby hospital.

Later that evening, Ms. Sylvia received a phone call from the woman's daughter stating her mother had a massive heart attack and received 4 stents but was alive. I am confident that if Ms. Sylvia hadn't been there and hadn't been quick on her feet, the woman would have had a much worse outcome.