Earlier in 2023, resident Lacie McKenzie found herself in one of those rare situations where Red Cross training must be put to use.
After saving the life of a participant at Moose Jaw Diversified Services, her successful effort has now been recognized with a Canadian Red Cross Rescuer Award.
McKenzie is a person-centred support worker at Diversified Services in Moose Jaw. In January 2023, one of the organization's participants returned to attend the day program but something wasn’t right.
“He began to express distress, and a staff (member) called me over. I recognized right away what was happening, and with the help of a few of my co-workers we were able to get him in the right position, do a proper assessment, start CPR… and we just ran from there and did what 911 dispatch told us.”
It was a fortunate coincidence that McKenzie previously worked as a paramedic with Moose Jaw EMS. Her training and experience undoubtedly helped save the man's life.
Using her training, McKenzie instantly recognized what was going on – the participant was displaying signs of agonal respirations.
“Essentially, he began to not breathe, and very quickly after that your heart will stop,” she explained.
With the help of three of her co-workers – Vangie, Mandy, and Melvin – who were in close proximity at the time, the team got to work immediately. While she was performing CPR and preparing to use the nearby AED, one team member called 911.
McKenzie was able to resuscitate the participant before the arrival of EMS crews and continued to assist them on scene.
“It’s kind of hard to tell because it seems like it (took) longer than it did, but I would say about 10 to 15 minutes into this he did regain consciousness and began to breathe on his own, so it was a successful resuscitation,” she recalled.
“Everything just kind of worked out. We must have had angels with us that day because that is a very rare experience.”
Subsequent to the harrowing incident, McKenzie said the staff at Diversified Services got together to process what just happened. Nothing of this magnitude has happened within the organization in around 38 years, according to her.
“We all got together later that day and went through everything. We were all able to take a big sigh of relief afterwards,” she said.
McKenzie said her co-workers wanted to recognize the significance of her actions, and the idea for the award came after one of them discovered the recognition program offered by the Canadian Red Cross.
“I was actually off work sick one week after Christmas, and the delivery guy showed up at my house with this award. He said, ‘Sign here, please.’ I didn’t even know what it was, and I opened it up and I was like, ‘Oh, alright!’”
McKenzie wasn’t expecting to receive any recognition for her work beyond the initial show of appreciation from her coworkers.
“Working in EMS for eight years… I’ve had those situations arise, and they’re not always positive in the end. To have one be positive and to have the outcome it did was pretty special.”
For the former paramedic, recognition of this magnitude did not come as a regular part of the job.
“In EMS you’re not really acknowledged – it’s just kind of expected that this is part of your job, and you do your job and move on with your day. It was really quite surprising to get that acknowledgement and to have a group of us get acknowledged for that special day,” she explained.
“It will forever hold a special place in my heart.”
