Patterns - An Academy Story

Jump Start My Heart

A/N: All Japanese conversation comes from Google. I make no guarantee of accuracy.

Sean's POV

Ugh. Why did I say any time after 2pm would be good? I thought to myself as I rubbed my eyes and slid my feet to the floor. I really wanted a longer nap. And dammit, I missed the apple pie. Such is the life of a doctor. But I really do like wearing my white coat.

Heading out of my office, I walked towards the elevator. I don't even have time to visit the babies, and there's a new batch of them, I harrumphed to myself. Maybe next time. Duty calls. We have to keep the good Academy boys and girls properly trained, I thought as the elevator doors closed.

I walked into the classroom. There were surprisingly more people in the class than I expected, and I recognized a few of them. I was about to start speaking when a late arrival slipped into the room and sat down in the back row. Oh, you I don't recognize, I thought. I know I'd remember meeting the future Mrs. Green before. I need to get to know you. I sighed to myself. Business before pleasure, I know, but something about her seriously drew me in.

"Welcome to the CPR/AED class. My name is Sean Green. I'm a doctor here at the hospital, but today I'll just be your instructor." I look around at the students in the room. "I see some familiar faces, so some of you have met me before in that capacity. Glad to see you're all doing well now." A few laughed. Not the ones who I'd treated, I thought with a grin.

"Here are handouts for today's class," I said, handing the stack to the first person. "Please take a packet and pass them down."

"So, what exactly does CPR do? In simple terms, you're pushing oxygenated blood through the body. The earlier you start CPR on someone who is in cardiac arrest, the better the results. When someone is in cardiac arrest, it doesn't automatically mean they have had a heart attack. Cardiac arrest can also be caused by drugs, or poisoning; traumatic injury, blood loss, even anaphylaxis."

"When you first come across someone who is in cardiac arrest, there are several steps you need to take. First, call 911 to activate EMS and get an AED, which stands for automated external defibrillator. Then you need to assess the scene – is there any danger to you if you approach the patient. Next, check for response. Put your head near the mouth. Are they breathing? Listen. Do you hear breath? Is their chest rising?" I went on to describe different methods for opening the patient's airway.

I walked to the table where one of the CPR dummies was laid out. "Start with chest compression." I demonstrated the hand position. "Interlock your fingers, place your hands mid-sternum, and allow for full chest recoil. The ratio of compressions to breaths is 30:2. Each breath will last about a second, pausing in between each breath."

"If you have someone with you, ask them to count the compressions for you. Standard ratio is 30:2. What happens if you don't do 30? What happens if you do 5 compressions and then give the two breaths? Is it going to hurt them? In a word, yes. The compression forces the blood through the body, so if you don't do enough compressions you aren't pushing the blood out to the rest of the body. If the blood supply has been restricted for enough time, tissues can turn necrotic. We do 30 compressions to 2 breaths to get the blood out and come back to exchange the good oxygenated blood with the bad."

"What next?" I asked them. "Your AED has just arrived; you've kept up the compressions. Because a heart in cardiac arrest is getting electrical pulses, but not enough to do its job, the AED is used to, in essence, jumpstart the heart." I look around at the students. Good. They're taking notes. I haven't put them to sleep yet.

I open up the unit and turn it on. "The AED unit has a voice feature that prompts you each step to take, once you've turned on the unit. Turn AED on. Hook up electrodes. Put pads on patient's chest." I stop, holding up the contact pads. "There needs to be contact with skin, so if you're treating a Wookie, put the pads more towards the side of the chest."

I place the pads in the proper position on the dummy. "Once the pads are in place, press the yellow button to analyze. The AED is looking for the V-Tach or V-Fib rhythms. The AED will tell you if shock is advised. If you hear "Shock advised" wait until the unit is fully charged before you press the shock button. If you don't, there won't be enough power. Before you press the shock button, make sure everybody, including yourself, is clear. Take my word for it, you don't want to be doing chest compressions when the shock is delivered, because the electricity will be transferred in to you. Press shock button. Shock delivered. You'll know when the shock is delivered because the patient's body will jump."

"As soon as the shock is delivered, go back to doing the chest compressions. The unit should be good for up to three shocks. As long as you're still doing effective CPR when the EMS arrives, you're increasing the survivability for the patient."

"Now it's your turn. Pair up in teams of two to practice the CPR and using the AED."

I watch as the students in the class pair off in groups. Since most of the students came with their team members, it was logical that they paired off together. This left one particular student without a partner. Look out, Mrs. Green, I'm coming to meet you, I thought to myself as I walked over to her.

"Hi, I'm Sean. I'd be happy to be your partner today," I told her as I approached, holding out my hand, giving her my best panty-dropping smile.

"Hi, I'm Sang," she responded quietly, shaking my hand. "Thanks for offering to be my partner. I appreciate it."

Hmm. It looks like the future Mrs. Green is shy. She's even cuter close up, I think to myself as I study her face. Dark blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, green eyes with long lashes, kissable mouth. And she blushes. I wonder if she giggles, too, I thought, hopefully. Holding her hand, I bow lightly to her. "Anata ni ae te totemo ureshii. (I am happy to meet you).

I motion in the direction of the last CPR dummy. "Shall we?"

As she practiced chest compressions on the manikin, I counted repetitions for her, adding in a few things in Japanese. It doesn't count as flirting if the other person doesn't know what you're saying, does it? "Anata ha totemo suteki desu" (You are very lovely)

"Ok, that's 30 compressions, now you have 2 breaths," I told her, "Then continue with 30 more chest compressions. Anata ha watashi no iki wo ubau. (You take my breath away) Watashi anata ni kisushitaidesu (I would like to kiss you)"

"One, two, three, four, keep going, good compressions...Watashi to kekkon shite watashi no misesu gurin kudasai (would you marry me and be my Mrs. Green?)

She looked up at me as I continued counting and gave me a puzzled look. "Do you always speak in another language when you teach?" she asked with a small grin.

"That, Pookie, is special for you. We can't have everybody in the class barge in and demand to be on our team! Next thing you know, they'll all be demanding we give them our apple pie!"

"I hate to tell you this," she giggled, "but we don't have any apple pie."

Be still my heart, she giggled! I looked at her and sighed. "Watashi wa anata ga Kusukusu warai o kiku no ga daisuki (I love to hear you giggle)."

"Well that's a shame. Perhaps we should go find some apple pie after class."

She laughed. "I'm sorry, but perhaps a raincheck on the pie."

"For you, Pookie, any time."

The rest of the class flew by. All of the teams successfully completed the CPR and AED course requirements. "Excellent job today, everyone. "I will let the Academy coordinator know that you have all passed and that your records will be updated, and your certificates will be sent out to you."

I watched them as they filed out of the classroom. My future Mrs. Green gave me a glance back as she left the room, and I gave her a little wave. I sighed. I was optimistic that I'd see her again, and that we would have our apple pie date.