Taking Charge in a Crisis
All eyes were on him as he rushed into the ladies room at the Gold Strike Casino in Jean , Nevada .
“ It ’ s okay . He ’ s a nurse ,” one of the security guards assured the group gathered around an obese woman lying on her back on the restroom floor . “ Is she alive ,” the Spartan Nurse asked the security guards . No one answered . “ Does she have a pulse ?” Again , no answer .
Ronald Coronado recalls that night . “ A group of us had just finished a midnight meal at the casino restaurant , and I remember singing “ Happy Birthday ” to one of our friends since it was now officially his birthday . As we were leaving the casino , I saw a male security guard dragging an oxygen tank , running through the casino and into the ladies room . That ’ s when I identified myself as a nurse and asked if they needed help .”
When Coronado found that the patient had no pulse and was not breathing , he shouted , “ Call 911 ! Who knows CPR ?” Of the seven guards , only one said he knew CPR — but he weighed well over 300 pounds and could not bend over far enough to properly assist . The casino was in the middle of the Nevada desert , 30 miles from the nearest medical center . So the nurse performed one-man , bystander CPR for 30 minutes until a helicopter arrived from Las Vegas . After the flight nurse established an IV and gave an amp of D50 , the woman started breathing on her own .
Making an Impact
Because of his MSU training , Coronado did not hesitate when help was needed . “ Seeing a person collapsed in front of me was not intimidating at all . Even in nursing school , I was always the one to jump in and take charge during a code ,” he says .
Coronado has had the opportunity to travel from coast to coast during a 25-year career that has included working as a chemo nurse , a home care nurse , a cardiothoracic nurse , a travel nurse , and the manager of an AIDS clinic . “ I know the impact I have had with the patients that I ’ ve cared for , their families , and the students that I ’ ve trained . I ’ m passing forward the knowledge I obtained at MSU and afterwards ; I know I am making a difference ,” Coronado says . “ There are many people who get to be my age and look back and wonder what they did with their lives , or if they made a difference in this world . I don ’ t wonder that .”
Nursing Provides a Diverse , Rewarding Career
“ With the diversity under the umbrella of nursing , I have been able to do more than I would have ever done if I ’ d chosen another career . It ’ s been very rewarding .
“ I remember the woman from the casino gripping my hand as a gesture of thanks as they wheeled her from the ladies room to the helicopter ,” Coronado adds . “ I never saw her again ; but I have thought about that moment and know that I made a difference !”
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF NURSING • NURSING . MSU . EDU
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