An EMT student has credited fate in the rescue of an
overdose victim at the Civic Center BART station Monday, BART officials said in
a statement.
“It was a butterfly effect, I was waiting for my friend
and if I hadn’t, I might have missed this person,” said Nicholas Stallcup,
a student at the City College of San Francisco where he just finished his third
week of EMT training.
Around 11:30 p.m. Stallcup found a man lying unresponsive on the floor of the station, the transit agency confirmed. The man was blue in the face and barely breathing. BART officials said that Stallcup performed CPR until the man was revived.
“He was unresponsive for what felt like 15 minutes when
it was only three minutes,” said Stallcup. “I thought he was
dead.”
BART police officials arrived on the scene a short time
later and administered two doses of Narcan, an opioid antidote used in
situations in which someone is suffering from an overdose. As of May of last
year all BART police officers carry Narcan. BART officials said that the man
was transported to a local hospital for further treatment.
“It is always
great when riders have first aid training,” said one of the officers who
arrived on the scene. “A few seconds can make the difference between
life and death.”
Stallcup said that having empathy for others is an important
part of supporting the Bay Area community.
“It’s easy to look at someone and think — oh, he’s a junkie so let’s not bother — and turn the other cheek,” said Stallcup. “They are still part of our community. They are not the most glamorous or healthiest part, but nonetheless, they are one of us.”
Source: NBC Bay Area
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