SAN ANTONIO – Tears, hugs and handshakes filled the room where 57-year-old Daniel Hinojosa finally got to thank the H-E-B partners, EMTs and Methodist Hospital medical staff who saved his life late last month.
Hinojosa, a hardware store employee, had collapsed in the produce section of the H-E-B on Austin Highway.
“Carrots. I was buying carrots, healthy food,” Hinojosa said.
Within minutes, Michael White, an H-E-B partner in maintenance for less than a month, was the first to reach him and Hinojosa’s frightened daughter.
“I saw him go down. I thought he tripped, so I ran over there,” White said.
Ronnie Rainey, the manager in charge that day, said if it had happened a minute later, he would have been on the other side of the store and not heard the loud crash and the scream that followed.
Thankfully, both H-E-B partners were trained by previous employers to perform hands-only CPR.
Rainey learned at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland and White at what was then University Health System.
Find more information on hands-only CPR here
White, who had to do it about half a dozen other times, said, “The CPR training just kind of kicked in when we just started administering CPR.”
However, Rainey said it was “a surreal moment” for him.
“I’ve never had to use that training before, so it’s happening in real-time,” Rainey said.
Although Hinojosa’s first thought later was a concern for his daughter, who saw everything, he said, the next was “appreciation for the fact they knew what they were doing.”
SAFD emergency medical technicians quickly took over, using a device that gives consistent chest compressions on the way to Methodist Hospital, which they said is considered a hub for these cases.
Dr. Jorge Alvarez said because Hinojosa had been given hands-on CPR almost immediately, the survival rate was two to three times higher than without it.
Alvarez said doing hands-on CPR serves as a lifeline for the patient.
“You’re essentially working for the heart,” Alvarez said.
He said it helps maintain the blood flow to the brain and other vital organs.
As for automated defibrillators, Alvarez said, “If you apply it and you haven’t had the bystander CPR beforehand, that’s not going to make a difference.”
Alvarez said he encourages at least one family member to learn hands-on CPR because “70 percent of these events happen at home.”
“It could be a family member that you saved,” Alvarez said.
February, being American Heart Month, is said to be the perfect time to learn the life-saving method of hands-on CPR.