Lifesaving measures

Before Hope Alive ever opened its doors to homeless families, our staff and volunteers worked diligently to develop and implement a high standard of excellence in the delivery of our program services. We researched, wrote and amended what seemed like volumes of policies and procedures and created the needed forms and tools to support that level of operation. Through the process – and continuing today – we view everything through risk management lenses. All the effort to minimize risk to the greater level possible has paid off and even saved lives.

Part of our required staff training includes annual American Red Cross CPR and first aid certification. Our staff is trained during the year at different intervals depending on the employee’s start date. Our last training was held in April and three of our resident moms participated and became fully certified in CPR and first aid. Among this class was one of our newest staff members in our children’s ministry – Liz Meisner. What she didn’t know then was that she would be putting these skills into practice in a few short months.

In the children’s center this week, Miss Liz saw an infant making a noise that she thought was her usual baby talk. But as she listened more closely, she realized the baby was choking. Without a second thought, her life-saving skills went into action. She placed the baby head down on her forearm and gave her five back blows (appropriate for an infant) and then turned her halfway over to see if what she was choking on had been dislodged. Noticing that the baby’s hair beret was missing Miss Liz quickly ran her finger inside the baby’s mouth and felt the beret and pulled it out. Amazing!

Surprisingly, this isn't the first lifesaving measure we’ve experienced at Hope Alive. The first year we opened, another children’s ministry staff came to the rescue of a teen who was choking on a potato chip at lunch. Her CPR skills automatically kicked in as she ran to his side. She administered the appropriate back blows and abdominal thrusts and the chip came flying out! He was shaken, but grateful for her quick response.

I am so proud of the awesome staff God has assembled! I’m amazed at the wonderful children’s ministry team that is so attentive to our children’s every need and loves and cares for them as their own. And I’m grateful to Operations Supervisor Missy Miller for her diligence in keeping our staff training up-to-date on these lifesaving measures.

Enjoy the beautiful weather that’s forecasted for the weekend and stay safe! Until next week …

Sue Oehmig
Founder and Executive Director