SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – An EMT student from American Medical Response’s Earn While You Learn program helped save a life while at dinner Wednesday night.
Marissa Dumais was having dinner at Olive Garden in Enfield when she saw a 65-year-old man, who was with his daughter, became lethargic and fell off his chair onto the floor. Marissa quickly began CPR when she couldn’t find a pulse while telling her friend to find an AED.
Due to Marissa’s training, she administered electric shocks from the AED until a pulse could be found, right before paramedics arrived. AMR commends her for using the training she’s learned so far to quickly jump into action and save a life.
22News spoke with Marissa about what it meant to save this man’s life, using the training she gained from AMR. “He was able to go home to his family and celebrate his daughter’s birthday, which it was that day, so I was able to do that,” said Dumais. “It really prepared me saying, that this is really what it’s like and it really made me happy and feel that I know this is for me.”
Marissa is nearly two weeks away from earning her EMT certification from American Medical Response’s Earn While You Learn program. The program allows trainees to be paid as full-time employees while they take the necessary courses to become emergency medical technicians.