CINCINNATI — A Xavier professor is encouraging everyone to learn CPR after he used it to help a man who was having a heart attack on his flight to Florida earlier this month.
Dr. Edmond Hooker, an emergency physician at UC Medical Center and director of Xavier’s Master of Health Services Administration (MHSA) program, was flying to West Palm Beach with his wife when he said he heard calls for help. A man behind them was having a heart attack.
Hooker said the man had turned blue and did not have a pulse.
"In this situation, there is no time to think; you just have to act," Hooker said in a release from Xavier.
He worked with another physician on the flight to give hands-only CPR, which relies solely on chest compressions. Hooker said in the release the man regained his pulse and began breathing as they prepared to apply a defibrillator.
By the time the pilots performed an emergency landing in Jacksonville, Hooker said the man was awake and talking when they arrived at the gate. Two weeks later, Hooker said he received an email from the man thanking him for his help and letting him know he is OK.
While he's resuscitated people throughout his career, Hooker said that flight was the first time he had ever performed CPR in public.
"This type of instance is why everyone needs to know hands-only CPR," Hooker said. "If no one starts CPR until EMS arrival, the patient has less than a 5% chance of survival."
Hooker has trained thousands in CPR in his time at Xavier. He expressed the importance of hands-on CPR and said to avoid mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, which is no longer recommended. He shared a video on social media teaching the method in less than five minutes. To watch the tutorial, click here.
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