Brewster Resident’s Training Helps Save A Life

BREWSTER – Paula Inscoe did not get up that morning thinking her presence would mean the difference between life and death for a member of her community.

That’s exactly the point of CPR and Stop the Bleed trainings offered by the Brewster Fire Department and elsewhere throughout the area: you never know when lifesaving skills will be needed.

When Inscoe first noticed that a man in her vicinity was coughing and might be in need of assistance, he declined help, not realizing the gravity of his situation.

“I heard him coughing, looked back and he was in distress,” Inscoe said. “I walked towards him, and he waved me off. He took a gulp of water from his cup, but the water came back out of his mouth. He continued coughing and he pounded on his chest. He could not breathe, but at this point he would not let me help.”

Inscoe said that in these moments, her training came back to her in a flash. She had received CPR training at the Brewster Fire Department in 2017, 2019 and 2023, and took Stop the Bleed training at the Brewster Fire Department in 2019.

“My instructor was in my head, running me through the steps I needed to take and actions I needed to perform while my mind was screaming, ‘This can’t be happening,’” Inscoe said.

About 5,000 choking-related deaths occur in the United States every year, most often involving the very young (children under 3 years old) and the elderly. The Heimlich maneuver, used to help dislodge an obstruction that is blocking the airway and hindering the ability to breathe, is one of the first aid and CPR techniques covered when receiving a certification in CPR and first aid.

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation — CPR — is an emergency lifesaving procedure which can double or triple chances of survival after cardiac arrest. According to the American Heart Association, over 400,000 Americans die each year from cardiac arrest. Globally, cardiac arrest claims more lives than colorectal cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, influenza, pneumonia, auto accidents, HIV, firearms, and house fires combined. Lifesaving CPR training can be completed in an evening, enabling bystanders to administer aid at any time if someone suffers a cardiac or choking event in their presence. Unfortunately, only about 40 percent of people who experience a cardiac event outside of a hospital setting get the immediate help they need before professional help arrives. Although 65 percent of people in the United States say they've received CPR training at some point in their lives, only 18 percent are up to date on their training, and the number of people who stay current with annual CPR and lifesaving training is even smaller.

As Inscoe watched the coughing man’s face begin to change color, she prepared to put her training into practice.

“He went to the sink and leaned over it, still making noises. His face was turning red and it was obvious he could not breathe,” Inscoe said. “As he leaned over the sink, I hit him between his shoulder blades three to five times, but nothing happened.”

Inscoe’s training enabled her to immediately spring into action.

“I anchored my feet, put my hands around his belly and performed the Heimlich maneuver,” Inscoe said. “It took three thrusts, and out flew the needle for his insulin, still in its plastic container. The man had dumped his pills onto the counter, swept his pills off the counter and into the palm of his hand, and threw the ‘pills’ down his throat. When he swept the pills into the palm of his hand — this was his routine and he did it mindlessly each morning and evening — he had swept his insulin needle into the palm of his hand along with his medications, and threw the lot down his throat without looking.”

In a letter to Fire Chief/Emergency Management Director of the Brewster Fire/Rescue Department Robert Moran, Inscoe said the voice of her CPR instructor was in her head the entire time, walking her through the steps.

“You need to know how very important your training classes are,” Inscoe wrote. “Your voice was in my head, walking me through the steps, telling me to anchor myself or I could go down and bring him with me, telling me to give back blows and where to place them, telling me to grab his stomach, find his navel with my thumb, move above it, connect my hands and pull up quickly and with force. Had you not been in my head, I would not have known what to do, let alone how to do it. My brain was busy facing reality with disbelief until your voice came in and directed me; my form may not have been perfect, I worried that I was hitting him in the back in the wrong place and too hard, I worried that my hands, holding each other across his belly where not in the right position, but three thrusts later, it didn’t matter, the plastic came flying out. You walked me through it, and it happened so quickly, I didn’t have time to think for myself, I went into automatic co-pilot as you directed me.”

Inscoe had never known anyone who had received lifesaving CPR assistance. Nor had she ever known anyone who had received lifesaving help of any kind. So why has she been so diligent about receiving training and staying up to date with her CPR skills?

“It was more of a responsibility and readiness mindset than an inspiration for me,” Inscoe explained. “I co-own Inscoe Mechanical Services, an HVAC/R company with my husband Ron. He made me aware of our responsibility to be prepared and the necessity for safety protocols. I realized that my husband’s business safety principles carried over to every facet of life. It began with my volunteering for Alzheimer’s Family Support Center and Nauset Neighbors. It was easy to see how lifesaving training would apply there. Then I accepted the responsibility that if a worker, a volunteer client, family member, friend or stranger experiences a medical emergency, I want to be prepared to do all I can to help them survive until the professionals arrive.”

Since putting her training into practice and saving a life, Inscoe said she now feels more self-assured that if an emergency should arise, she will remain calm and the lessons she learned will return until a professional arrives.

“As far as feelings, once it set in the following day, I felt elated, relieved,” Inscoe said. “I am grateful that somewhere in the back of my mind, the lessons I learned from the class are stored.”

What would Inscoe say to others who are considering taking the time to take CPR, Stop the Bleed or other lifesaving training?

“The CPR training class at the Brewster Fire Department is one evening. Everyone can spare one evening to learn skills that can save a life. Consider how you would feel if a loved one was having a heart attack, choking, deeply cut themselves and you did not know what to do,” Inscoe said. “Also consider how grateful you would be if you were choking or having a heart attack and a stranger helped because they knew how to get your heart beating, or how to get the item blocking your airway out until the EMTs arrive. It’s a few hours, one night out of 365. Anyone has that time to familiarize themselves with lifesaving skills.”

For information about CPR and Stop the Bleed trainings available through local fire departments and elsewhere in the community, visit: www.brewster-ma.gov/fire/news/joint-cpr-and-stop-bleed-class orleansfirerescue.com/stop-the-bleed-2/, or visit www.redcross.org/local/massachusetts/take-a-class/cpr

www.chatham-ma.gov/221/FireRescue-Department

www.harwich-ma.gov/fire