CPR instructor, student save real man's life during classroom session

ROCHESTER, Minn. (KMSP) - A CPR instructor teaching a class on how to save lives ended up using her skills in a real-life teaching moment when a man went into cardiac arrest right outside their classroom in Rochester, Minn.

Tim Smith, owner of Twin Cities Safety, says proper training could be the difference between life and death. His students got that lesson first-hand when a person shoveling snow outside the Red Cross building needed their help.

“I immediately exited the classroom and went out to the person and noticed right away that something was definitely wrong,” instructor Jennifer Brandt told Fox 9.

The man had come inside to take a break when the incident occurred. Brandt said she and another student gave the man life-saving CPR -- "It just happened to be right time, right place, and very quick response that saved this man's life."

The incident gave Brandt a very unique and important teaching opportunity.

"Very rarely, if ever, does it happen where your students can watch and help and see something play out in real life,” she said.

Paramedics later returned to the classroom to tell them that the man had survived, and the quick response time was to thank.

"If there is not someone there to help when somebody goes into cardiac arrest, that person will die,” Smith said.

The response time was approximately 30 seconds. And in this case, those seconds mattered.

“It just goes to show you that you never know when or where an emergency is going to strike, and that's why everyone needs to know emergency skill,” Smith said.