EMS Director David Geiger presents Citizen Lifesaver Awards to, from left, Steve Templeton, Eric Funk, Sami Peterson, Melissa Kavanaugh, and Linda Strong, all from Fidelity Investments.
City honors Fidelity team whose fast, decisive action saved co-worker
COVINGTON, Ky. - When a Fidelity Investments employee collapsed and went into cardiac arrest while walking from the parking lot to the building on April 22, his co-workers jumped into action.
Financial Associate Melissa Kavanaugh sprinted to the front desk to get help. Security receptionist Linda Strong made sure 911 was called and then alerted Fidelity’s security team, many of whom are EMTs. Arriving first, security representative Sami Peterson began performing CPR and using an automated external defibrillator. She was soon joined by assistant security manager Steve Templeton, security representatives Jon Martin and Ed Meyer and worklead Eric Funk, all of whom pitched in.
In the few minutes before a speeding ambulance carrying firefighter/paramedics from the Covington Fire Department arrived, Fidelity’s team had performed six rounds of CPR and used the AED to deliver four “shocks,” Funk said.
Their quick action was, quite literally, the difference between life and death.
About 90 percent of the over 300,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the United States are fatal, said Maria Santiago Jenkins of the American Heart Association.
But the Fidelity employee was fortunate to have co-workers who had the knowledge and the willingness to use it.
He survived.
To honor the Fidelity team, Covington EMS Director David Geiger presented each member a framed certificate of the Fire Department’s “Citizen Lifesaver Award” during a brief ceremony today on Fidelity’s campus.
“The true ‘first responders’ are not us but the people who witness an event and spring into action,” Geiger said. “In incidents like this, a patient’s best chance for a positive outcome is when all of the links in the ‘chain of survival’ are strong, and in this case they were.”
Added Fire Chief Mark Pierce: “Early action goes a long way. We’re thankful for your action, but I’m sure your co-worker is more thankful than any of us.”
Santiago Jenkins also praised the Fidelity employees and said the heart association would be sending them each a plaque.
Also during the ceremony, Geiger acknowledged the strong work of the Fire Department members who responded: firefighter/paramedics Will Stevie, Brian Boyers, and Jake Westrich; Lt. Krista Dyer; and firefighter/EMT Aaron Bolyard.
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