One morning, when it was raining for what seemed like the 10th day in a row. As Kathryn was leaving her neighborhood heading into work she noticed a lady performing CPR on a gentleman in his driveway. Kathryn pulled over and began to help. Kathryn found out that the person performing CPR was a retired VMC nurse. At about the same time Asia Johnson was coming home from her night shift and saw the scene unfold. Asia stopped as well and jumped in to assist. Kathryn and Asia confirmed that 911 had been called and took turns rotating compressions every 2 minutes as recommended by AHA. When EMS arrived and de-fibrillated the patient, ROSC was returned. Kathryn and Asia supported the patient’s wife as she was in shock and was unable to go with her husband due to COVID restrictions. The patient’s spouse told them the patient was carrying out his usual morning routine by going to the mailbox to get the morning paper. Kathryn & Asia went inside to wait with the patient’s wife until her son arrived and noted that breakfast was still on the table as if the couple was getting ready to sit down for breakfast. Later, it was discovered that the patient did not survive because he had a ruptured aortic aneurysm.

Kathryn and Asia represent everything that Vidant stands for, being willing to step up when called to duty (even if you are going to get rained on AND be late for work), providing excellent clinical care in the community, and providing comfort to a spouse who was fearful of losing her husband. While the outcome was not what everyone was hoping for, these nurses showed extraordinary courage, dedication, and compassion that morning.