Last week, a Massachusetts woman collapsed on the casino floor at Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun. Luckily, a registered nurse was nearby.
Edward immediately appeared into action. She and another two nurses used life-saving techniques referred to as chest compressions.
Sanda Swenor was brought to life thanks for their effort. Later, she and Edward met again at the Connecticut hospital, Backus in Norwich, where Edwards was the east region worker health supervisor for Hartford Healthcare.
Nurse springs into action
The incident started early in the evening on October 22. Edwards and her hubby had tickets to watch country music star Blake Shelton perform at Mohegan Sun.
While they were waiting for the event to begin, her husband noticed Swenor, who was also waiting to attend the show, starting to have a convulsion. She was leaning on one of the slot machines. He alerted his wife.
“I looked up. I ran over to her,”
Cindy Edwards told Casino.org in a Friday interview.
Edwards knew what to do. Before working in Connecticut, she was an emergency room nurse in South Carolina and an EMT. Edward laid the patient onto the floor and started examining Swenor’s vital signs.
Edward told Casino.org,
“There was no pulse. There was no breathing.”
Heroic teamwork
Swenor had experienced sudden cardiac arrest, and her heart had stopped.
Edwards immediately shouted for someone to call 911 to get EMTs. She started applying CPR compressions on the woman’s chest. Soon, a second woman joined Edwards.
The second nurse told Edwards,
“I’m a nurse. I can help.”
Edwards and the second nurse then doubled up on compressions. It is arduous for someone to offer reductions on their own constantly.
Without that second nurse offering some help, the rescue effort could have been in vain. An external defibrillator that can revive the heart’s breathing when the heart suddenly stops was not available.
A little time later, a third woman joined. She was a nurse, too. That third nurse continued to help with the rescue effort and checked for a pulse. Luckily, soon, she felt one.
Within a few minutes, EMTs arrived at the casino floor. They took over and carried the patient to a nearby ambulance.
Women reunited
Edwards presumed paramedics had taken Swenor to nearby Backus Hospital in Norwich. That hospital happened to be one where Edwards had recently worked.
Some days later, Edwards asked Backus staff whether they remembered a woman who came in at Mohegan Sun with cardiac arrest and seizure.
Edwards explained to colleagues,
“I just wanted to make sure she made it, and everything is good.”
After several attempts, a staff member at the hospital confirmed that Swenor was there. The staff member told Edwards she should meet her.
So, the staff brought Edwards up to the patient’s ward. The patient and her mom immediately thanked her for everything she had done.
“I can’t thank you enough for saving my daughter,” the mother told Edwards, she recalls. “Cindy Edwards is my hero.”
Swenor and Edwards talked for a while. Edward wished her well in her recovery. Luckily, Swenor was discharged from the hospital earlier this week. She is going to take care of the condition with her health professionals.
Nurse’s training, intuition
Edwards remains humble regarding the incident, explaining that training and instinct immediately took over. The other two nurses who showed up never told Edwards their names. Like Edwards, they just wanted to assist when they were needed.
Edward said,
“I’m a nurse, and that’s what we are supposed to do.”
Even though the three nurses came through, most casino people kept playing slot machines as the event unfolded. It was Edwards’s husband who took his time to call for emergency personnel.
Last Updated on by Ryan
