Disaster Health Services Volunteer Cindy Pennie saved the life of an evacuee in a Red Cross shelter in Live Oak, Florida. Red Cross photo by Kim Mailes
Exactly one year ago, American Red Cross Disaster Health Services Volunteer Cindy Pennie was on a plane to Maui following the devastating wildfires. Now, she finds herself in an emergency evacuation center at Pineview Elementary School in Live Oak, Florida, helping care for those seeking refuge from Hurricane Helene.
“I just brushed my teeth, put my jammies on, and was sitting on the edge of my bed when Tony (another shelter worker) came in and told me someone was having chest pain,” Pennie said. “We walked to the cafeteria, where over 300 of the 500 total people who evacuated were staying, and I saw an older women complaining of chest pains.”
As a longtime nurse, this wasn’t the first time Pennie encountered someone with a medical emergency — it wasn’t even the first time that night. Hours earlier, an ambulance took a different woman to the hospital. Just as she did before, Pennie instructed fellow responders to dial 911, but the full force of Hurricane Helene was already active, delaying any emergency response intervention.
Looking around the large, bustling cafeteria, Pennie and other volunteers helped the woman walk to the nurse’s office to offer some privacy and a quiet place to rest. Still struggling with chest pains, the older woman laid on a cot while Pennie tried to find a pulse, but it was weak and faint. Pennie and her team found aspirin and administered pre-emptively to the woman.
“As soon as she swallowed, she started having a seizure and went into cardiac arrest,” Pennie said. This time, when Pennie instructed others to dial 911 again to communicate the cardiac emergency, dispatchers agreed to release an ambulance.
Having just recently completed her latest American Red Cross CPR and AED training, Pennie quickly reached for the AED and followed the instructions.
“Analyzing…shock required…begin CPR…”
“I’ve never done CPR on a real person before,“ Pennie said. “I’ve been certified forever and I had just been recertified a couple of weeks before I came [to Florida].”
After two minutes of CPR, the AED chirped again, “Analyzing…shock not required…continue CPR if needed…”
The woman’s pulse returned and she started murmuring to the responders around her. About 20 minutes later, after navigating downed trees, power lines, torrential rains and hurricane-force winds, the ambulance arrived and transported the woman to a hospital where she was stabilized.
Still reeling from the adrenaline of the situation, Pennie texted her husband back home in Oklahoma a summary of the evening she just experienced. “Oh wow,” he texted back. With a reassuring chuckle, Pennie added, “he’s very supportive.”
Pennie has been a Red Cross volunteer since her first deployment to Florida in response to Hurricane Irma in 2017. Back in 2021, after watching news coverage of the devastating tornadoes and storms across western Kentucky, Pennie’s husband turned to her and said, “You have to go; you just have to go.”
As the parish nurse at her church, Pennie also explained how supportive her faith community has been for her deployments. “I feel like I’m doing this on their behalf, too, because they would be here if they could be,” Pennie said. “I just feel like I have all of [my community] back behind me supporting me and helping me.”
That’s her favorite part of disaster response operations with the Red Cross. “Everybody working together and agreeing we're all in this together, and we're in a safe place and we can do this,” Pennie said, tearing up. “That's just really awesome seeing the goodness of people.”
The best way to continue this goodness? Get trained in CPR and how to use an AED, Cindy says.
“I think everybody should learn CPR,” Pennie said, “and not be afraid of it. It’s a lot easier than you think to save a life. If I can do it, you can do it.”
As Pennie holds back tears, she remembers what her husband would tell her every day before leaving for work a nurse: “Do good work. Save lives.”
Red Cross CPR/AED online, in-person and blended learning courses are available at redcross.org/takeaclass.
About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or CruzRojaAmericana.org, or follow us on social media.
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