A public-access defibrillator and five clear-headed strangers trained in CPR saved the life of a 70-year-old tourist who collapsed near the San Miguel County Courthouse in Telluride Friday night.
The man was walking on Colorado Avenue around 7 p.m. when he fell to the ground face-first. Valerie Sloan, who had recently taken a CPR refresher course that included a map showing where all 38 automated external defibrillators (AEDs) were hanging in town, saw him go down, pulled her car over and joined two of her friends who also had rushed to help.
“It was dark, but I could tell he wasn’t breathing,” she said.
They called 911 and she told her friends to start chest compressions while she ran across the street to grab the defibrillator she remembered was hanging near the courthouse.
“His stars really aligned,” Sloan said of the tourist. “I got back in less than half a minute with the AED. Then randomly, an ER doc and a paramedic came. We got the AED on him and maybe used it twice before paramedics got there.” continue reading this story in the Denver Post
Telluride Properties is proud to be one of the first supporters of the AED program in Telluride. If you frequent Telluride we encourage you to familiarize yourself with the AED locations in town and Mountain Village.
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