TACLOBAN CITY – A nurse-turned-lawyer of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) is now earning praises after saving a five-year-old boy from drowning in a resort in Macrohon, Southern Leyte recently.
Lawyer Earnswell Pacina Tan was watching over his baby sleeping when he was called by his brother-in-law Erdy Rojas for help.
Rojas, a seafarer, was the one who recovered the child from the water. However, he asked Tan, a trained medical and basic life support (BLS) professional to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
“I am grateful to my brother-in-law because one of the factors for effective CPR is early detection. If the child was recovered later, then the outcome of my CPR would have been different,” Tan recalled.
Tan was caught on camera performing multiple CPRs on the boy until he was revived and brought to a local hospital.
“While I was performing the CPR, I was also praying to the Lord to please give the boy a second chance,” citing that the boy was already turning blue at that time.
Despite being called a hero by some, Tan shared it is overwhelming and self-fulfilling to be God’s instrument in saving someone’s life.
Tan is the Acting Chief of the Regional Administrative Division with the rank of Fire Senior Inspector at the BFP Regional Office 8.
He also believes that Basic Life Support needs to be learned by everyone and not only by rescuers and those in the medical profession.
“We do not know when and where we will need it. If there are untoward incidents that require BLS or CPR, at least we are ready because rescuers are not always around,” he said. He added that it takes time to call for help and to travel to the area, so while en route, someone needs to do something onsite. By Marie Tonette Marticio (EV Mail April 24-30, 2023 issue)
