On Monday, February 4, Chief Roepke of the Pleasant Prairie Fire and Rescue Department presented a citizen award to Gwen Gernenz and Cory Baker who successfully resuscitated a 60-year-old patient.
On Wednesday, January 16, the 60-year-old patient passed out and was found unresponsive in the Costco parking lot. Gernenz witnessed the fall and immediately started CPR chest compressions. Baker (a Costco employee) arrived with an AED. Cory applied the AED, allowed it to perform its analysis and the unit advised that a shock was indicated. Baker immediately delivered the electric shock to which both determined there was a pulse and the 60-year-old patient resumed breathing. When the Pleasant Prairie paramedics arrived the patient was conscious and speaking with both individuals. The patient was transported to a local hospital for further treatment.
“The interventions and decision to become involved by both individuals is without a doubt the only reason this patient survived,” said Chief Roepke, “It is a textbook example that demonstrates when efforts are taken to train and equip civilian bystanders and they engage in a crisis, that spectacular outcomes can occur. This is what we strive for.”
Gernenz is currently a nursing student at Herzing University in Kenosha. Baker is a Costco Tire Center supervisor and a volunteer Firefighter/EMT for local fire departments in Twin Lakes and Lake Geneva. Baker also assists teaching First-Aid & CPR to other Costco employees in Pleasant Prairie.