What began as a regular day for USA family medicine resident Dr. Aaron Morgan soon turned into something much more.

On May 15, Dr. Morgan had just finished his workout at the YMCA in Daphne, Ala. Per his usual routine, he sat in the sauna, which overlooks the YMCA’s pool. It wasn’t long before he noticed something unusual – the pool was empty and it had become very quiet.

The swim team was huddled up, and someone was on the ground covered up with a towel. The staff, who was aware of Dr. Morgan’s medical background, saw him looking that way and asked him to come over.

When Dr. Morgan reached Sam Cockrell, the 16-year-old swimmer and local triathlete was facedown and suffering from what Dr. Morgan believed was cardiac arrest with agonal breathing – an abnormal pattern of breathing characterized by labored breathing and snoring.

“They thought he was having a seizure and called the EMT,” Dr. Morgan said. “However, it’s very unusual for a healthy child with no seizure disorder to suddenly start seizing.”

This is when Dr. Morgan said he became concerned. “He was completely unresponsive,” he said. “I tried talking to him and was telling him to squeeze my hand. But he didn’t. I started checking for pulses and couldn’t feel any.”

Dr. Morgan said he cleared everyone away and flipped Sam over. At that point, Sam had stopped breathing. Dr. Morgan immediately started CPR while the YMCA staff retrieved the defibrillator.

Read the rest of the story here…

http://medschoolwatercooler.blogspot.com/2013/07/usa-residents-quick-response-saves-life.html