Angel to the Rescue!
Recently, Doris Joseph, one our beloved home care employees for over 3-yrs, literally saved the life of Mrs. C, a long-term Visiting Angels’ client in Mercer County.
Doris reported this event to our Care Management Team shortly after the emergency occurred.
Doris said she had observed that Mrs. C recently began coughing after every meal. After serving her pork chops and corn on Friday, Doris noticed that Mrs. C once again began to cough. Doris stood behind Mrs. C and patted her back, which had eased the coughing in the past.
But this time, Mrs. C suddenly stopped coughing and when Doris spun around to look at her, Mrs. C’s face was completely purple and she was not breathing. Doris said Mrs. C. had a look of terror on her face! Doris immediately stood her up and performed the Heimlich maneuver on her. Doris repeated it a second time and then the food finally was dislodged from Mrs. C’s throat and she began breathing normally again. Doris called Mrs. C.’s daughter who came over immediately. After spending some time with her mom, the daughter felt that she was now fine and elected to keep her mom’s upcoming scheduled doctor’s appointment rather than rush her to an ER.
All of us at Visiting Angels commend and thank Doris for her quick reflexes and technical skill in a situation where anything short of immediate action could have cost Mrs. C her life.
Doris is our latest “Life-Saving Angel”!!!
Tags: Home care Mercer County NJ, home health aide saves life, safety supervision
