A story of Christmas past: Carols being sung by a choir, an elderly woman stricken in church, and a Vanderbilt nurse saving a life
The Sunday before Christmas, Patricia Wright was in church to hear her mother sing in the choir. Then she heard a call for help.
January 8, 2021
Photo by Susan Urmy
When Patricia Wright, RN, a clinical pharmacology nurse of 20 years, heard chatter behind her at a church service, she figured it was just children excited to hear the choir sing Christmas songs – it was the last Sunday before the holiday, after all. Children can be kind of wound up.
When the commotion got louder, she started to think it might be something other than children. Then, the choir director abruptly stopped singing and called out, “I think they need some help in the back!” Wright turned around and realized that an elderly woman had collapsed in a pew a few rows behind her.
Wright checked for a pulse or breath, trying everything to get a response, but there was none.
Wright jumped into action, rushing toward the woman to help. A woman from the front of the church also ran to help, and together the two realized they needed to get the elderly woman out of the pew and onto the floor to assess her. Wright checked for a pulse or breath, trying everything to get a response, but there was none.
“She was absolutely non-responsive,” Wright said.
Wright started administering chest compressions, 30 at a time, and realized the next step was administering mouth-to-mouth breaths. Wright faced an unusual dilemma. The service was socially distanced and everyone was wearing a mask – should she remove her mask to administer life-saving measures at the risk of spreading the coronavirus?
“I was looking at her thinking: ‘I’ve got to make that decision.’ Luckily, I didn’t actually have to.”
Quick-thinking churchgoers rushed an AED machine to the stricken woman’s side. Wright stopped chest compressions and cleared people from the area so she could begin administering shocks from the machine. She gave a single shock when the machine notified her to start manual compressions again. She began to repeat the cycle – 30 compressions followed by a shock from the AED.
“I did a total of two and a half rounds of compressions and two AED shocks,” said Wright. “Then, she started to breathe.” The woman opened her eyes and by the time EMTs arrived, she was fully conscious and talking to Wright.
Later she remembered something that she hadn’t really consciously noticed in the moments when the patient’s life was in the balance: piano music. Someone had been playing piano in the background of all the chaos.
Once the elderly woman was assessed by EMTs and taken to the hospital, Wright had a moment to process what happened as the service resumed.
“Afterward, my husband and I sat back down and listened to the Christmas service,” she said. “I may have had a little tear come down behind my mask. I was just thinking to myself: I can’t believe we got her back.”
Later she remembered something that she hadn’t really consciously noticed in the moments when the patient’s life was in the balance: piano music. Someone had been playing piano in the background of all the chaos.
She says the music helped her stay calm while assessing and handling the situation. “It was lively and soothing to hear. The church was praying while we were working, which was the ultimate encouragement.”
Wright credits her VUMC CPR renewal with helping her stay quick on her feet when she was needed most.
Wright renewed her CPR certification virtually in July 2020 at an on-campus kiosk due to COVID-19 precautions. Although the re-certification process looked different than it has in the past, Wright credits the renewal with helping her stay quick on her feet when she was needed most.
She also credits the church’s response, which she considers a textbook example.
“They did exactly what CPR training simulations teach you to do when someone collapses – call 911, get the AED and make sure someone is starting CPR. Their efforts couldn’t have been more perfect,” she said.
What started out as an opportunity to hear her mother sing in the choir unexpectedly turned into so much more.
A few days after the incident, the woman Wright helped save called.
She thanked Wright for saving her life and talked of getting to spend another Christmas at home with her loved ones.
“It was truly a Christmas blessing,” Wright said.
