North Treasure Coast Chapter American Red Cross

I'm New at This!

Marisa FoxwellIf anyone had told Marisa Foxwell that her newly-acquired Red Cross training would be put to the test within a week of taking the CPR course, she would have been the first to doubt it.

On August 18th, Marisa Foxwell of Hutchinson Island, was asleep in the car, as she and her husband traveled to the Orlando airport to pick up her father. Suddenly, Marisa was awakened by a commotion at the toll booth. “There was a lady screaming at the attendant to help her baby,” Marisa explains. When the toll booth attendant pleaded to Marisa and her husband for help, Marisa immediately got out of her car, and moved in to assist. She took the baby from his mother, fell to her knees, and laid the baby down on the ground. Her first instinct was to feel the baby’s head, and then his chest. The baby’s head was extremely hot, and his breathing was shallow. The conditions indicated that CPR was not required, and so Marisa instructed the toll booth attendant to call an ambulance. By the time Marisa was able to calm the mother and get her to stop screaming, another woman had approached the scene. “She took over the other part,” says Marisa, “Asking what the baby was doing before this situation developed.” With that, Marisa says, she stepped out of the way. It wasn’t until later that Marisa was able to talk to the other woman and admit that she had completed her Red Cross training less than a week ago. “So did I,” said the other woman.

Having acted when needed, Marisa says with confidence, “It was scary, but it was neat because I felt comfortable enough to do something.”