In Palms Springs, California, a café employee was 15 minutes into his morning shift at a Starbucks when he noticed a sudden commotion. A customer had passed out on the café’s patio. Another customer had come to help out while another rushed inside and asked the staff if anyone knew CPR. Luckily, the café employee was Kurt Vaughn.
Vaughn wasn’t certified and everything he knew about CPR was from his training as a boy scout when he was only 11 or 12 years old. But he remembered reading a few instructions on a websites about CPR a few months back. So Vaughn hesitantly volunteered to help the patron. The 20-year old Vaughn was nervous, but he knew that someone who was about to die needed all the help he could get.
Vaughn said that the fainted customer was pale as a piece of paper when he got to him. He was barely breathing and had a faint pulse. Vaughn instructed the customer to lie down and raise his legs to maintain blood flow, while another barista held his chin up to keep the air moving. Vaughn then administered a few chest compressions.
The fainted customer was Mike Furtado, a 66-year old from North California. He arrived in Palm Springs the previous day and he was looking forward to spending time relaxing at the Palm Canton Resort. But Furtado suffered from cardiac arrest just outside of the Starbucks and spent his week at the hospital. He says that he doesn’t mind as long as he gets better. Â Furtado also mentioned that he is grateful for the actions fo Vaughn and considers the young man as his hero.