Off-duty Edmond nurse saves man, infant in the same day
By Jason Burger
Click here for updates on this story
EDMOND, Oklahoma (KOCO) — A registered nurse from Edmond was off the clock when she found herself trying to revive a man whose heart had stopped at a YMCA, and that was just the start.
If that wasn’t enough, Jennifer Gentry found herself in a similar situation the same day, this time bringing an infant back to life after meeting up with a friend for lunch.
Some might call her a superhero, but she’s also a wife and mom and said she hadn’t really planned on being a lifeline for two people on Wednesday.
“He was clearly not breathing and not doing well. So, I went over there and asked if I could help, and I assessed him,” Gentry said.
In the movies, superheroes might save more than one person in a day, but for Gentry, it happened in real life.
“The AED recommended a shock, so we delivered a shock and another round of compressions,” Gentry said.
A nurse at Integris Baptist Hospital, she’s in the business of saving lives, but while off the clock on Wednesday at the Mitch Park YMCA, all of a sudden, there was a middle-aged man motionless. But after a few rounds of CPR and a jolt from an AED, the man came to.
“For the first couple rounds and after the defibrillation, he didn’t have a heartbeat, and after the third round of compressions, he came to,” Gentry said.
Staff at the YMCA confirmed to KOCO 5 that the man was revived, and that would be a win in any superhero’s book, but Gentry learned that with great power, there’s great responsibility. Fast-forward about three hours later to her lunchtime stop at Panera Bread, and this time, it was a 6-week-old baby.
“And he was not moving, not crying, he was blue. His poor mom was freaking out, obviously,” Gentry said. “The baby required some back slaps, so I gave it some back slaps, and … there was some stuff blocking the baby’s airway.”
But after a few rounds of compressions, the crisis turned calm. Gentry said she’s since talked to the baby’s mother.
“She reached out to me, and she’s doing good, and the baby is doing good … so yeah. After that, I went straight home,” Gentry said.
Two lives saved by the same woman, who just happened to be at the right places at the right times.
“I’ve never had a situation like this outside the hospital, except for yesterday … twice in one day,” Gentry said.
She told KOCO 5 that, to her knowledge, the man at the YMCA and the young infant are doing well. Staff at both businesses confirmed the instances.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
