Life-saving training
Dental assistant performs CPR on a bystander
Michelle Perrin was taking her typical route home from work on Oct. 15, when she came upon a scene that completely changed the course of her evening.
As she exited the TriMet light rail train at Delta Park/Vanport station in Portland just before 6 p.m., the School of Dentistry dental assistant saw a 200-pound man lying on the stairs, unresponsive. People around him appeared panicked and unsure of what to do.
Michelle Perrin, a dental assistant, takes a break while in the OHSU School of Dentistry simulation lab in the Skourtes Tower at the South Waterfront campus.
Perrin knew exactly what to do. Her cardiopulmonary resuscitation training, or CPR, kicked in and she immediately acted.
“Get him off the stairs!” she said she shouted at the people surrounding the unconscious man as she approached. She pointed to a flat surface and instructed them to move the patient so she could begin reviewing his airway, breathing and circulation.
The patient’s face was grey. He wasn’t breathing and there was no pulse. Another woman who had just exited the train also stopped at the scene. Perrin told her to call 911.
Perrin instructed other bystanders—who appeared to know the patient—how to administer rescue breaths while she compressed his chest. Together, they performed chest compressions and breaths at the universal 30:2 ratio.
Training kicks in
Regular CPR is a part of the preparation for Perrin’s job. She took a course that was taught by an OHSU health care professional shortly after joining the School of Dentistry in March 2024.
“The CPR training I got at OHSU was the best,” she said. “The nurse had us do scenarios, taught us how to work as a team and perform the most effective CPR.”
The training paid off as Perrin continued to assist the individual at Delta Park that evening. As she compressed his chest, she watched his face turn from grey to rosy, pink.
A bystander, who appeared to know the patient, shouted that they had a dose of Narcan, also known as naloxone, which quickly restores normal breathing following an opioid overdose. Perrin paused for a moment while the medicine was injected. There was no response. She continued chest compressions.
Finally, the man coughed. His breath was ragged, but he began to talk. Soon after, an ambulance arrived. The medical staff took over and provided care.
Dentistry saves lives
When the event was done and her adrenaline subsided, Perrin’s chest was sore from the pushing, and she felt exhausted.
“Never once did I think I’d perform CPR on the side of the road in the dirt on a stranger,” she said. “Doing compressions on a human body was harder than I thought.”
In days that followed, she considered what more she could have done for the man.
“I’ve thought about that gentleman a lot since then. I dreamt of him a few nights later,” she said. “Is he OK? Will he change his life?”
She still takes the same route home. Each time she passes through the Delta Park station she looks around to see if the man is there. She hasn’t seen him since that evening.
“I stopped because I can, and I’m supposed to. I didn’t feel afraid in the moment,” she said. “See, people in dentistry save lives too.”
Story by Rhonda Morin, APR
Photo by School of Dentistry
