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Shelby Rivera honored after saving fiancé with CPR at apartment gym
Summary
Shelby Rivera was recognized by the Seminole County Fire Department after performing hands-only CPR on her fiancé at their apartment complex gym; a 911 dispatcher coached her until firefighters arrived and used a defibrillator. The department urges residents to take free CPR and AED classes through its Save a Life Seminole program.
Shelby Rivera, a Seminole County resident and recipient of the Seminole County Fire Department Citizens Lifesaving Award, was honored after performing hands-only CPR on her fiancé when he collapsed during a workout at their apartment-complex gym.
Rivera said the man suddenly "passed out," and she initially "did not feel a pulse" and that he "wasn't breathing." A 911 dispatcher stayed on the line and guided Rivera step by step through chest compressions until firefighters arrived.
"Please hurry. Please, please, please. He passed out," a dispatcher can be heard urging in the transcript. Rivera said she had never performed CPR before and was unclear how long she was compressing, adding, "I did not feel a pulse. He wasn't breathing and I'm not exactly sure how long I was doing CPR for."
A dispatcher quoted in the report said Rivera "did not know CPR" and emphasized the importance of persistence: "we tell them to keep going ... and we count with them and we make sure they don't stop until the paramedics arrive."
Firefighters from Tower 27 and Rescue 23 arrived within moments, the transcript says. A responding firefighter said, "We initiated CPR and then we shocked the patient." Because of Rivera's actions and the emergency response, her fiancé survived and "has now made a full recovery."
Rivera said she is "just eternally grateful" and called the rescue "one of the best things I've ever felt." She urged others to learn hands-only CPR, noting emergencies can happen anywhere. The Seminole County Fire Department promotes free classes through its Save a Life Seminole program to teach residents how to perform CPR and use an automated external defibrillator (AED). For more information, the report lists scfdfl.com as the department's website.
The Fire Department presented Rivera with a Citizens Lifesaving Award in recognition of her actions. The department is encouraging residents to enroll in its free classes to increase bystander readiness and survival rates from sudden cardiac arrest.
