Ironically, after talking about first aid training, I have sad news to share. On Tuesday, Nov 24, a gentleman had a heart attack right outside of our elevator (the elevators take those who can’t use the stairs up to the fitness floor). I was not there and truthfully I did not know about it until I saw an e-mail from my supervisor about how no one was to speak about it and if asked questions we are told to go straight to the director. Unfortunately, it was Jenn’s dad. Jenn is a building supervisor at the Gemini Center, the first person I trained with, and a cross country/track coach at the high school. Her father was also very well-known in the Fairview Park community. When I came into work, a few of the staff members filled me in on what had happened: that he had fallen as he was getting off the elevator, Terry, the building supervisor that day, tried everything that he could to save him and unfortunately, he had passed away on the way to the hospital. Many of the employees were also enraged by the e-mail. Like I said, her father was an influential presence in the community, having worked with the police department. Personally, I thought it was to keep privacy within the family, but one of the front desk workers told me that even Jenn was upset that my supervisor sent that out on her behalf without consulting her.
The last time I had first aid training, I was in RA training in undergrad roughly 4 years ago. It is definitely important to get caught up on first aid since you will never know when you will need it. We primarily went over all of the signs of heart attacks, strokes, seizures, etc. in full detail. That seemed to be the focus of the training: looking for signs and how to properly give care to those people. We also practiced giving CPR on the dummies, where I learned it is 30 compressions then two breaths for six minutes as opposed to two breaths then 15 compressions like I had previously been taught. I was really surprised that we did not go over how to wrap ankles or injuries. Yes, we touched on it, but not as thoroughly as I would have thought. Thinking back on it, it is probably because it is what the largest group of people would see. As the building supervisor, I would be the only one dealing with a sprained ankle in the gym, but an older gentleman could be having symptoms of a stroke anywhere in the building: fitness floor, gym, locker rooms, etc.
So since work today went pretty slow, I thought I would focus this post on the people of Fairview. Growing up in Lakewood, a suburb basically next to Fairview, I assumed that it was pretty big. While it has more than one stoplight and lots of places to eat, Fairview itself is pretty small. High schools only graduate about 150-200 while Lakewood graduated 500 in comparison. It also amazes me how everyone stays in Fairview. People who work there have lived in the area the majority of their lives and those who just graduated are still coming to the Gemini Center to play pick-up games every day. It is crazy how everybody knows everybody. I visit Kathy, a worker on the fitness floor, and she is constantly talking to someone about their kids, girlfriend, new job, etc. She knows everybody there. The Gemini Center only allows Fairview Park residents into the facility so it is no surprise that all of these people grew up together. I talk to Bob, the programs intern, and he mentions all the time how he sees people from high school and he graduated in 2009. While I am taken aback, I also think this is a very nice thing. It is like Fairview Park’s own oasis for its residents. It is nice that you can walk into the facility and automatically find a friend.
What a week! I had four shifts with no problems and now I had to write another incident report. This time it was a medical incident. I was in the main gym when over the radio I heard “Code Blue” which is a medical emergency. I went to the front desk and a woman was lying on the ground. There were a few members surrounding her in addition to a lifeguard and front desk staff member. According to a member, the woman had been dropped off by her husband, walked into the building, had a seizure, and the other front desk staff member had called the ambulance, who were on their way. When I arrived, the woman was already sitting up and conscious, more embarrassed than anything. I controlled the situation and kept incoming members from standing around, started filling out the incident report and soon after the ambulance arrived. Since this was my first important incident, the pool supervisor (head lifeguard) helped me get all of the information that I needed. The ambulance took the woman outside to give her some air and do a few tests until her husband came back to get her.
The first incident that I ever had to deal with involved social media. A 7th grade resident, Johnny, came up and said that someone had recorded him and sent it to her friends via snapchat. I had to ask my supervisor what to do about this and she said that the Gemini Center has a policy where no one can take videos in general, due to liability reasons. I approached the girl who took the video and told her she needed to delete the picture from her snapchat story. In addition, I got Johnny’s account of the situation as well in order to write an incident report on the situation. Thankfully, the girl was very cooperative, but she did ask a lot of questions in regards to taking pictures and videos in the Gemini Center. I just had to explain to her that it was a liability issue: if pictures are posted inside the Gemini Center and something occurs due to the picture/video, then the Gemini Center is liable. My best example is say there is an abusive father and the mother has a restraining order so the father cannot see the son, but if the son posts a picture in the Gemini Center, the father could come and talk to him or worse take him. While this is an extreme case, it is a possibility and the Gemini Center needs to take as many precautions as need be.
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AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
August 2016
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