For one man at an Elkton, Maryland, gas station, Jason Haynes chose the right time to fuel up.
Haynes, a meter technician at Chesapeake Utilities Corporation subsidiary Elkton Gas, was filling his company truck’s gas tank when a middle-aged man leaving the store suddenly collapsed. “I heard something and looked, and I thought he’d tripped at first,” said
Haynes. “But then I looked again, and he wasn’t moving.”
It took Haynes just seconds to sprint over. The man had fallen backward heavily and was bleeding from the back of his head. Haynes saw the flutter of a pulse in the man’s neck, then it stopped. The man wasn’t breathing.
Without hesitation, Haynes started CPR. But in the back of his mind was the only other person he’d performed CPR for—his then-50-year-old mother, who’d had a massive heart attack. “She didn’t make it,” said Haynes, who pushed past the difficult memory to assist the fallen man.
As Haynes continued CPR, the flutter in the man’s neck returned, and he suddenly took in a deep gasping breath. By that time—a matter of minutes since Haynes first saw the man on the ground—he could hear paramedics coming down the road. “They said, ‘He was lucky you were here when he fell,’” said Haynes.
But his opportunity to help wasn’t over. Paramedics located the man’s wallet. Seeing that his home was close by, Haynes offered to go by to alert any relatives. No one answered his knock, but he left a note explaining what had happened and the name of the hospital where the man was taken.
He also left his number. A few days later, Haynes received a call from the man’s sister. The man, who was recovering in the hospital, didn’t remember Haynes, but both were thankful he was there.
For his part, Haynes is thankful for the CPR training from Chesapeake Utilities and previous employers that enables him to perform his role to the community as a first responder. “The way I look at it, you might be working inside one of these houses and someone might collapse from a cardiac arrest,” he said. “You never know when you might have to help someone.”
“Jason’s response is a great example of how our team members make a meaningful difference everywhere they live and work. It takes a special kind of person to respond the way he did in this situation,” added Brian Yost, gas operations supervisor. “He truly demonstrated our company value of putting people first and keeping them safe.”