By Bethany Bray Patterson, American Red Cross regional communications manager

Drew Ashley was flying from Baltimore to West Palm Beach, Florida with his parents last July and, like many of his fellow passengers, settled in for a nap after takeoff.

Drew soon awoke to the sounds of his father, Tony, calling his name for help. The passenger who was seated next to Tony was struggling with a medical issue and had gone into respiratory arrest and become unconscious.

The actions that the Laurel, Maryland father and son took through the following 45 minutes undoubtedly saved the man’s life.

Tony and Drew are both Red Cross-certified instructors who regularly teach classes on CPR, first aid and other lifesaving skills. They sprung into action to help the unconscious passenger midflight, administrating CPR and rescue breathing for nearly an hour until the airplane could make an emergency landing in Orlando.

“The training that we got from the Red Cross kicked in and we started to do what we had to do to save him,” Drew recalls. “It was like muscle memory – I’ve been teaching this [CPR] every day for years. Once we recognized what was going on we knew what we had to do, and instinct took over and we followed our training.”

“It’s one of those situations that you never forget,” he adds.

Drew and Tony lowered the man onto the floor of the aisle and took turns administering CPR, turning him onto his side as he vomited. He maintained a weak pulse but was unconscious the entire time. After landing, the Ashleys transferred care to first responders who boarded the plane.

While Drew admits that 45 minutes is an extremely long time to provide CPR, it didn’t feel that long because he was focused on helping the victim. After the man was hospitalized, the Ashleys heard from one of his friends that he survived and was doing OK – and, eventually was able to speak with them on the phone to say thank you.

“Thank God we were there, because if not it would have been a very worse situation. No one else on the plane knew what to do,” Drew says. “However the credit goes to the Red Cross because without the training we had, he wouldn’t have made it.”

In an emergency, bystanders can be a critical lifeline until medical professionals arrive, yet nearly half of U.S. adults are not prepared to help in a medical crisis. CPR can double or triple the chance of survival when administered in the critical minutes before first responders arrive. 

Drew, president and owner of the Life Saviours instruction company, has partnered with the Red Cross to teach CPR, first aid and other classes throughout the D.C. metro area, Maryland and Pennsylvania for roughly four years.

He’s always felt that CPR and other lifesaving instruction is his calling, but now, after the airplane incident, even more so. One of his professional goals is to provide lifesaving instruction in underserved communities.

Drew encourages everyone to take a class, because you never know when you might need to provide aid – even for “everyday” things like an allergic reaction or heat stroke, he says.

“Everyone should get trained – even just basic CPR and first aid. You don’t want something happen to a loved one and you don’t have the knowledge to help save their life,” Drew emphasizes. “You never know when an emergency will happen, and if we have more people who have the ability to help, those are skills you can’t really put a price on.”

*****

Red Cross training can give you the skills and confidence to act in an emergency. You’ll learn how to perform CPR, what to do for heart attacks and other emergencies.

Visit redcross.org for online and in-person courses and don’t forget to download the free Red Cross First Aid app to have vital information at your fingertips.