Page 44 of The Road Ahead
They nodded and wrapped their arms around Teresa.
I held the torch in my mouth and knelt on the edge of the open door and leaned down, feeling my way along the seatbelt until I determined where the best place to cut it would be, without risking Teresa getting tangled. As soon as I found the spot, I gave Rio a nod and then sliced through the belt. They grunted a little as they took Teresa’s weight, and I saw their biceps bulge. I placed the knife up on the side of the car, as far away from me as possible, so I wouldn’t accidentally cut Teresa with it, but I also wouldn’t lose it if I needed it again. Then I reached down and wrapped one arm under Teresa’s shoulder, and grabbed hold of a loop on her jeans with my other hand.
Rio counted for me, since my mouth was still busy with the torch, and on three, they lifted Teresa up as I pulled with all my strength. My sister came free of the door, a completely dead weight, and I tried to push down on the panic that was fighting to rise up within me. I knew the stats. I knew how infrequently CPR was successful, especially outside of a hospital setting. Even with early access to an AED, Teresa’s chances of survival weren’t great and the likelihood of herthrivingafter that was almost non-existent.
But I couldn’t give up. I couldn’t be Cooper the brother right now. I needed to be Cooper the EMT. Teresa’s life depended on it.
And so I shoved aside my emotions and got on with the job.
Chapter 19
Rio
“I’ll be back for you, okay,” I told Brad, knowing I had to be available to help Cooper.
“Go!” Brad urged me, desperation in his voice.
I hooked my arms over the side of the car and hauled myself out, and climbed down to the ground where Cooper was kneeling next to Teresa on the edge of the small ledge. The flashlight was lying next to him, and I picked it up, trying to provide enough light for him to work with. I could hear the sounds of Jimmy, Ravi, and Chantelle climbing down to us, and coming closer, an ambulance siren.
Cooper rolled his sister onto her side and cleared her airway, and then rolled her back over. Teresa’s eyes were partially open and for a moment, hope swelled in my chest, thinking she was conscious, but that hope was immediately crushed. Cooper began chest compressions, and I watched in horror as Teresa’s heart was forced to pump from the outside. I’d done severalfirst aid courses, practicing on those mannequins, but nothing prepared me for the reality of the situation.
Nothing much happened during the first several compressions, and then there was a crunching sound, and Cooper’s clasped hands pushed in a little further. It dimly registered in my mind that the sound was Teresa’s bones—either her ribs or sternum—cracking under the force. A tendril of hair that had fallen across her face fluttered as the next compression forced what little air remained in her lungs through her slack lips.
Another crunch. And another.
“Here!” I looked over and saw Jimmy fall the last few feet towards us, and I held up a hand to stop him.
“Careful! There’s hardly any room.” The last thing I wanted was for someone to come barreling in and push Cooper over the edge. Jimmy held himself against the car and stretched towards me, handing me a small plastic case with AED written on the side. I held out the torch. “Can you hold this up?” I asked.
Jimmy nodded and took the torch, and I turned back around and knelt down across from Cooper.
“What do I do?” I asked, not wanting to distract Cooper, but everything I’d learned in my first aid courses had fled my mind and I didn’t want to do anything wrong.
“There should be scissors in the case,” Cooper told me. “Get them out and cut away her shirt and bra.”
I opened the case, even as Cooper stopped doing compressions and leaned down to breathe two lungfuls of air into Teresa’s mouth. I hardly registered the rise and fall of her chest as I pulled out the scissors. I sliced my way up her shirt, even as Cooper grabbed the case from me and began pulling out pads. The bra wire gave me a little trouble, but I soon had it parted and I pushed the material out of the way, revealing Teresa’s sternum. There was a large red spot where Cooper had beendoing compressions, and I knew she would have a nasty bruise there later.
If there was a later.
“I need you to continue compressions while I get this attached,” Cooper directed me, voice cool, calm, and competent.
I didn’t hesitate, just placed my own hands over that red spot and began to push down, trying to keep count in my head.
There was less resistance than I was expecting, and it took my brain a long moment to realize that was because the bones beneath were already broken. I ignored the grinding feeling, thinking of nothing else but circulating blood through my cousin’s body.
Cooper worked around me, positioning the pads on her skin, and then hitting the buttons. As a mechanical voice said, “Analyzing heart rhythm. Do not touch the patient,” I pulled back, already feeling my arms aching from the short time I’d been doing CPR.
“Shock advised. Charging.” It felt like an eternity as we waited for the AED to charge, and I glanced over my shoulder to see that Ravi and Chantelle were trying to get to Brad. There were flashing lights up by the roadside, and I could just hear the sounds of the paramedics as they prepared to descend. “Stay clear of patient and deliver charge,” the robotic AED voice instructed, and I turned back in time to see Cooper press the flashing button.
It wasn’t like the movies. Teresa’s body didn’t flail about when the shock was administered, just jolted slightly. I wouldn’t have known it was over at all, except the machine advised us to continue CPR, and Cooper pushed up onto his knees and began compressions once more.
Sweat began to pour down Cooper’s face, and I could see his arms beginning to tremble. The paramedics were only partway down the embankment. “Need me to take over?” I asked.
Cooper shook his head, and I didn’t argue. He was trained in this, and I knew he wouldn’t risk Teresa for his pride. It wasn’t much longer before that mechanical voice piped up again, telling Cooper to stop CPR so it could once again assess the rhythm.
Just as the next shock was being delivered, the EMTs reached the ledge we were perched precariously on, and room got very scarce. I edged away, not wanting to get in the way as Cooper began filling them in on the situation, medical jargon flowing from his mouth fluently.
Things got hectic very suddenly as a Fire and Rescue team arrived, and Jimmy, Ravi, and Chantelle joined me as we found an area out of the way where we could safely wait. I didn’t want to try and climb up the embankment in the dark and impede any of the emergency services crews, so we watched and waited, feeling utterly helpless.
