Lightning Can Strike Twice

By Red Cross Volunteer
Santiago Vazquez

My name is Santiago Vazquez. I am the Director of an after-school program called Kids Clubhouse in Brooklyn. Like many of you, I had always intended to do my CPR training, someday. But life gets busy, doesn't it?

After reading an e-mail from my organization about a Red Cross CPR class, I started thinking about a night out with three friends in Spain last summer when a man in a restaurant fell to the ground and appeared to be choking. My friend Juan ran to his side while my other friends and I stood there and watched. He kneeled by the man's side, talked to him, and monitored his breathing and pulse. He knew what to do because he was CPR-certified. Eventually, paramedics arrived and we cleared out. It turned out that the man was suffering from a stroke.

Jake and I had flown to Spain to attend a friend's funeral a few days before. We felt helpless. In honor of our deceased friend, we vowed to get CPR-certified. Next time we were offered the chance to save a life, we would take it. I took the Red Cross CPR class the next fall and was glad to have kept my promise. However, I left the room certain that I would never use the skills I had just learned. After all, lightning never strikes twice.

Fast forward to February 11, 2004. As the 5:30 dismissal from the school cafeteria begins to wind down, I noticed that a member of my staff was yelling for help. I could see that six-year-old Brandon appeared to be choking. Because I left that Red Cross training confident in my abilities, I ran to him, observed that he was indeed choking, asked him to relax, and performed the abdominal thrust. A hard candy came flying out of his mouth. I thought I was done, but he was still choking. I repeated the procedure, and after a few moments, another hard candy hit the floor. I knew what to do because I had attended that training. If I had not, that boy may very well have died there in the cafeteria that day.

Education is a highly rewarding field in which to work, yet I have never felt more proud than at that moment. So if you have not registered for Red Cross training in which you, too, will learn lifesaving skills, I must very respectfully ask you a question: What are you waiting for?

Kids Clubhouse in Brooklyn is sponsored by the Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation. Our primary funder, The After School Corporation, requires all of its program directors to receive CPR/Emergency Rescue training.