By this time next week, Tom Parker expects to be a certified EMT. But his training came in handy earlier this week when he was playing hockey and a referee dropped to the ice.
When the man collapsed at the Boston Sports Performance Center in Wellesley, Massachusetts, Parker skated into action.
"I got to him. He was lying on his back, just not breathing. He didn't have a pulse. He was turning blue in the face," Parker said. "At first, I didn't know what to do, but when one of my teammates asked if he had a pulse, my training kicked in, so I started giving compressions."
After 10 or 15 compressions, the ref made a gasping breath. At that point, someone brought over a defibrillator, and Parker used it.
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"And at that point, he gave a much more regular breath, so I started compressions again and he started breathing a bit more regularly, and the EMTs showed up," Parker explained.
The ref was taken to a hospital, where he's recovering.
Parker is looking at medical school and says this experience reinforces his ambition.
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"My goal is to work as a doctor, so I've been trying to work as an EMT to get clinical skills to get more experience like that, so this definitely confirms I want to be an EMT, and it also confirms a medical career for me," he said.
Parker's exam at the National EMS Institute in Carver is next week.
