Josephine Falvey
February 2025
Josephine
Falvey
,
BSN, CCRN
PACU
UC Davis Medical Center
Sacramento
,
CA
United States

 

 

 

Josephine stayed calm and managed an extremely serious situation in a difficult environment with great poise and professionalism.
Josephine Falvey was on her way to work in the PACU, arriving on her bike at the front of the hospital. As she parked her bike, she noticed a gentleman walking toward the hospital entrance who appeared distressed. As Jo walked towards him, he collapsed, throwing his coffee to the ground. At first, Jo thought he was throwing his coffee at her, but she quickly recognized that he was having a medical emergency. She approached the gentleman with her bike helmet on and her backpack in tow and performed a quick assessment. Her assessment revealed that the man was in cardiac arrest, and she immediately began CPR in the entryway of the hospital. She could also call on a bystander to go to the guest relations desk and ask that a code blue be called. The code blue team from the Emergency Department arrived, and the patient's resuscitation efforts continued. The gentleman was taken to the ED, where he survived his cardiac arrest and was later transferred to the ICU pending further cardiac interventions. Emergency providers are crediting Jo’s fast response in starting CPR and getting this gentleman to the ED alive. The patient’s family arrived at the hospital and wanted to meet Jo to thank her. Their gratitude for her actions was unsurpassed, and her actions saved a father and husband - the family continues to express their gratitude and thanks for Jo’s quick action and ability to identify and address his emergent need in the hospital entrance that day. Josephine stayed calm and managed an extremely serious situation in a difficult environment with great poise and professionalism. Her PACU family all know her as a skilled and caring RN and a kind and patient person. We recognize, appreciate, and applaud her wonderful actions in saving this gentleman’s life.