On August 14, ATI Physical Therapy athletic trainer Haley Boyd from our Oxford, Ala., clinic received special recognition from the Oxford City Mayor and City Council for her heroic efforts in helping save the life of Oxford High School’s student services coordinator, Wayne Caldwell. Haley was among eight men and women who were honored.
Rewind to March 22 at Choccolocco Park in Oxford where Wayne was cheering on his daughter’s high school softball team. Midway through the game, Wayne unexpectedly went into cardiac arrest. Fortunately, Haley and the other first responders were at a nearby field when they learned what was happening. Because of this, they were able to spring into action and ultimately save his life.
To hear how everything unfolded that day at the park, we met up with Haley to learn more about her role in saving Caldwell’s life.
What events led up to you receiving special recognition from the Mayor and City Council?
I was working a baseball tournament at Choccolocco Park when we heard a loud scream from a nearby softball field. Myself and three firemen ran to the scene and found Wayne Caldwell laying on the ground. His son was next to him and informed us that he had just fallen and was unresponsive. One of the firemen on site was a certified paramedic/EMT so he rushed in to administer CPR. Meanwhile, I ran to get one of our AEDs onsite and called 911. We continued administering the CPR and AED process until EMS arrived about 10 minutes later. He was then transported to the local hospital, until he was stable enough to be transferred to UAB where he stayed in the Cardiac ICU until about mid-May. Interesting enough, Mr. Caldwell was my principal in middle school, so it was even tougher to see this unfold.
What role did you play in this situation?
Once we discovered what was happening, I went to retrieve the AED and handled the communications with 911. After that, I assisted in anything the firefighters needed from me. Once we had Caldwell in the ambulance, the park staff and myself removed everyone from the scene so they had a clear path to exit the park.
How did your training help prepare you for this?
I have been certified in CPR and AED use since I was 16 years old. I must admit that I have been lucky enough that I never had to use these skills – well, until now. Adding to this, fortunately, in my profession we must reobtain our certification every year, so that helps with keeping our skills sharp. I also wrote our park’s emergency action plan and had recently updated it before the events of that night took place, so thankfully, I was well prepared for a situation like this. I honestly don’t know if I was ever truly prepared for the events that took place that night, but I was truly grateful for all the training I had received in this field.
What does this accomplishment mean to you?
I was surprised by all the attention that we received from this event. I know for myself, I was just doing my job that night. I work out at the park every day and I truly just want to help people. I am so grateful that we all could come together to help play a role in his survival.
If you had any advice for other ATCs, what would you tell them?
Being aware of your surroundings when you’re at work is key. One of the main things that helped that night was getting the AED quickly and having several trained people who knew what they were doing to help. Another piece of advice would be to trust the expertise of people around you. We had several setbacks that night, such as a locked AED room and EMS taking longer than normal to respond, but we all worked together and knew how to work around these adversities to still meet our goal.
Had Haley and fellow responders not been on site to help revive Mr. Caldwell, there’s no telling what the outcome could have been. We are beyond proud of Haley’s efforts that day and for taking the initiative in protecting the lives of others. That’s ATI!