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On the sidewalk at the Santa Barbara college campus, paramed-
ic Rich Davis faced a life-or-death situation. A man had fallen
and, though he had no injuries, his heart was in a possibly fatal
rhythm. Davis had to act fast.
First, the paramedics tried giving the man medicine that might
calm his heart. As a trained paramedic and not just an EMT, Davis was
qualified to inject the patient with the medicine. After a moment, how-
ever, they saw that it was not working.
Looking back on his training and his understanding of cardiac is-
sues, Davis had to make a decision. This is where all his experience
came into play, and where the calm professionalism of the paramedic
took over. He had to try something he had never done before, but he
felt it was the only way. He decided that he would have to the use his
team’s defibrillator to shock the patient’s heart back into proper rhythm.
Mission
Accomplished!
Words To Understand
sedated
provided medicine to make a person sleep
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