Desmond Asare, home health aide, always wanted to work in health care. After he migrated from Ghana to the US last year, he was hired as a HHA with VNS Health.
“I have this passion for the health industry and helping people so when I moved here, I told myself, ‘How do I get into this field?’ I have hopes and dreams of becoming a nurse one day.”
However, his skills and determination would be put to the test when one of his clients went into cardiac arrest in the shower last December. Desmond performed CPR until the client was revived and paramedics were able to safely transport him to the hospital, all within ten minutes.
“If I’m being honest, I didn’t know what’s happening. I told myself do what you have to do. He can’t just lose his life,” he said. “I thought it was a heart attack so I tried to lower him down. After chest compressions, I realized his eyes opened again and he started breathing slowly. I continued until he regained full consciousness.”
Desmond’s quick thinking and training allowed him to save his client’s life. He also tries to learn as much as he can about his career from all types of sources. “I watch videos from YouTube after work trying to educate myself,” said Desmond. “I watched how to perform CPR before [the incident] happened. I want to create this career path for myself and hopefully I can enroll in school and start nursing training.”
Desmond, his client, and the client’s family now have an even stronger bond than they did before the incident. What was a traumatic experience turned into a long-lasting friendship. “We’ve gotten so close, the whole family too. [His] wife recently told me with the other aides, he doesn’t really respond to services as much compared to me,” he said. “I’m the only aide he [fully] trusts; he doesn’t make it difficult for me. He goes with the flow.”
Read the full article here.
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