Caterpillar is celebrating the life saving teamwork of seven people who administered CPR when their colleague collapsed. 49-year-old Mark Whiting went into cardiac arrest about a month ago while speaking at an offsite work meeting. Seven of his colleagues responded.
They laid him down, checked his pulse and determined CPR was needed. They called 911, located the building AED and ensured EMT’s had a clear path to Whiting while other team members shared and rotated compression responsibilities until the rescue crew arrived. John Carpenter is the team’s leader.
“So two things have to happen for these events to occur where Mark is with us, alive and well. First is the training and I have to thank Caterpillar for that. We start every single meeting with a safety slide and I can tell you it has a whole different meaning for us right now.”
Carpenter says even with training, people still have to work together and take the action at the moment it’s necessary to save a life.
The majority of the seven Caterpillar worker who participated in the CPR effort were trained at work. One of them learned it during military service. Advanced Medical Transport offers free worksite CPR training.