Training through Quinlan Ford High School’s health science pathway prepared student Emberlyn Elston to respond when she came upon an elderly man who had been struck by a vehicle near the Quinlan Walmart last Wednesday, according to The Herald-Banner. Elston, who is CPR-certified and holds a patient care technician license, was driving home from work. She found the man without a pulse and not breathing, and began chest compressions, staying with him until emergency crews took over his care.
Elston said she detected a pulse and the man began breathing as she reached her 29th compression, according to the Herald-Banner. The man had been thrown about 20 feet. Another woman also stopped at the scene, traffic continued moving around them, and a Hunt County sheriff's deputy arrived shortly after.
Elston also volunteers as a junior firefighter with the Quinlan Fire Department, which she joined as a freshman. That experience had included responding to vehicle accidents and medical emergencies before this encounter, the Herald-Banner reported.
A Scene That Tested Her Training
Elston said her mind was racing with too many thoughts to count as she worked on the man alone on the roadside. She told the outlet she felt isolated until American Medical Response personnel and other first responders arrived to take over. The driver who struck the man remained in traffic, per the same account.
Elston later thanked the Quinlan Fire Department crew for its support. The department, which has served Hunt County since 1965, describes itself as an all-volunteer operation and identifies itself as the only Advanced Life Support department in South Hunt County.
Teachers and Family Behind the Training
Elston credited health science teachers Randy and Zachary Magee with helping prepare her for the moment, the Herald-Banner reports. She also traced her commitment to helping others to her grandfather, who died of cancer in 2017, and described courage as acting despite fear.
Elston plans to pursue a career as a K-9 officer after graduation, and she said she hopes her experience encourages others in the community to learn basic emergency skills. Her advice: learn CPR and basic first aid before an emergency happens, because, as she put it, people do not know when that knowledge might matter.
CPR Instruction and Training in Texas
Texas public high school students are required to receive CPR instruction, but the Texas Education Agency says that instruction does not have to result in certification. Elston’s CPR certification and patient care technician license came through the more specialized health science pathway described in this account.
The American Heart Association says CPR, especially when administered immediately after cardiac arrest, can double or triple a person’s chance of survival.
What the Research Shows About Bystander CPR
Elston's experience echoes a pattern seen elsewhere in North Texas. A 13-year-old Coppell student, Jace Giles, performed CPR after his 10-year-old friend Nasir Brobby collapsed on a basketball court with an undiagnosed congenital heart defect, continuing compressions until his mother and Coppell Fire Department EMS arrived, according to CBS Texas. A pediatric cardiac intensive care physician said there was no question Brobby survived because CPR began immediately, and FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth reported that physicians credited Giles' quick action and prior training with saving his friend's life.
The American Heart Association has pointed to similar patterns at a broader scale. A preliminary, not-yet-peer-reviewed analysis found that bystander CPR started up to 10 minutes after cardiac arrest was linked to a 19% greater likelihood of survival to hospital discharge and a 22% greater likelihood of a favorable neurological outcome compared with no bystander CPR, according to the American Heart Association. The same analysis found that CPR started within two minutes was associated with an 81% higher rate of survival to hospital discharge. Study first author Evan O’Keefe, M.D., said, “These results highlight the critical importance of quick action in emergencies. It suggests that we need to focus on teaching more people how to perform CPR.”
