BRISTOL, Va. (WJHL) – A Bristol, Virginia firefighter and paramedic is just back from an 8-day cruise in the southern Caribbean with an unforgettable story.
Sergeant David Jenks jumped in to help after an elderly man was having a heart attack in the dining room of the ship.
Sergeant Jenks has decades of firefighter and paramedic experience under his belt.
He got to put that experience to good use last week while aboard the ship.
“While we were sitting eating dinner. We heard a female passenger yell for help,” Sergeant Jenks said.
A man was on the floor – unresponsive. Other first responders who were also on vacation – joined in to perform CPR.
“The ship staff brought us an AED,” Sergeant Jenks said.
After multiple rounds of CPR and using the AED, he was resuscitated.
“The ship’s medical staff arrived with some much-needed medication. We were able to administer that and the patient was resuscitated,” Sergeant Jenks said.
Jenks checked on him later in the evening. He was told he was stable and was going to be airlifted to a hospital in the U.S.
The cruise director wrote Sergeant Jenks a note – with a dinner coupon attached – thanking him for his hard work.
“On Saturday which was the next to the last day of the cruise they told us he’d been discharged from the hospital to home and he was recovering at home in Tampa,” Sergeant Jenks said.
In this life or death situation – Sergeant Jenks said their quick reaction was crucial.
“Stress people learning CPR, learning how to use an AED. You never know when it’s going to be one of your family members,” Sergeant Jenks said.
He feels blessed to do a job he says never feels like work.
“For things to work out the way they did, it was just a blessing. I feel like God’s hand played lot in it,” Sergeant Jenks said.
Jenks still doesn’t know the man’s name.
He said it’s rare to be able to get back in touch with people they’ve helped.
He’d love to be able to make that connection to see how he’s doing today.
