CPR TRAINING: Saving Lives On and Off the Job

(St. Petersburg, Fla)

Pam Feingold is passionate about her job at OneBlood. She said it is where she belongs.

“I’ve been here 26 years. I absolutely love working here. I wouldn't dream of working anywhere else,” said Feingold.

And now, that feeling is even stronger, about two years ago, Feingold’s CPR training saved a life. She was working in the St. Petersburg, Florida, donor center when a young man collapsed. 

“All CPR training it all came back rushing back to me.  How many compressions, how many breaths do you needed to check for the pulse, to call for the AED, to get 911 here quickly as possible to help save him,” recalled Feingold.

CPR training is a priority at OneBlood. Frontline team members go through training every two years and all new hires working on the Big Red Bus or donor centers are all required to learn CPR.

OneBlood team leader Byron Kennedy has gone through training six times.

“Anytime you can help somebody it's I feel that it's something you should do,” said Kennedy.

Kennedy has put his training into action twice. He performed CPR on another OneBlood team member who collapsed at work and then again when he was working at a blood drive.  

“I was a Publix in a Big Red Bus and a car jumped the curb and hit a lady walking across the street. We just happened to be next to the accident. So we jumped off and ran and did a CPR until the paramedics showed up,” said Kennedy. “You never know what's going to happen. And if you have some type of training that can help someone out, I always feel like it's a good thing to do. “

OneBlood team members have used their CPR training not only on the job, but after hours to save lives.

Sam Palacio, a donor services team leader,  jumped into action to save a man at his gym. 

“Well, I think I wasn't in the right place at the right time, you know, and I just thank God I was there at that moment, “ said Palacio. “I did what I had to do to save his life. And I, I'm glad that he's here with us today, I life. And I do it all over again.“

The man Palacio saved, Mike DuBois, said, “It was divine intervention. He knew what he was doing.”

More than 1,000 OneBlood team members are trained in CPR. Feingold hopes others will be inspired to act on this message.

“Get CPR trained every two years!” exclaimed Feingold.