Emily Davidson was looking do some volunteer work for a school assignment when she potentially saved a life.
She was serving drinks at a seniors dance when she saw a crowd of people standing and looking at the floor, where a woman had collapsed. Davidson grabbed the first aid kit and raced over. The woman had no pulse, wasn’t breathing and was turning blue. A guest at the Luepke Senior Center’s prom on May 18 started giving the woman CPR. Davidson, 17, said she was a lifeguard and asked if she could help.
The two of them and another man in attendance gave her CPR while preparing the defibrillator, which they didn’t end up using because the woman’s chest started moving. They turned her over and gave her oxygen until first responders showed up and took over. The woman was taken to a hospital, and Davidson went back to volunteering.
“I really took charge,” said Davidson, who will be a senior at Battle Ground High School in the fall. “I just jumped right in. I didn’t hesitate at all. I saw someone who needed help and I knew how to give it.”
On June 18, Davidson was given a Meritorious Service Award from Fire District 3 Chief Scott Sorenson at the Battle Ground City Council meeting. She also received a good grade on her assignment, which was to write a report about volunteering somewhere for her Happiness and Your Health class.
“She was so put together, during and after,” said Heidi Marshall, a recreation specialist for the center, who hosted the seniors prom. “For her to not to want down time and go home amazed me. It was the first time she performed CPR.”
Davidson has been a lifeguard at the Marshall Center in Vancouver for a little more than a year. While that was her first time administering CPR in a real-life situation, she said the lifeguards go through four hours of training a month where they go over rescue situations and CPR.
“I knew exactly what to do,” she said.
Davidson had a second rescue situation within the last month while working as a supervisor at the pool. A 7-year-old girl went down the waterslide. Her mother was waiting at the bottom of the slide, and the girl grabbed her mother’s hair, sending both of them underneath the water. Davidson said the on-duty lifeguard was on the other side of the pool, so she jumped in, brought the girl to the side of the pool and swam back for the mother, bringing her to the side of the pool after.
“I love the adrenaline and feeling of helping people,” Davidson said.
She’s planning on continuing that love professionally. She’s currently enrolled in the Running Start program through Clark College, and once she finishes high school and college, Davidson wants to become an emergency room nurse.
Davidson also spends her time volunteering at Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center and playing for her school’s varsity golf team. She’s also active in Summit View Church, and said she’s looking forward to attending church camp later this summer.
Two days after saving the woman at the prom, Davidson visited her in the hospital and spent an hour and a half chatting with her. She visited the woman again last week at the woman’s home.
“She’s doing awesome,” Davidson said. “Her chest still hurts a little bit. We just talk and enjoy each other’s time. I plan to keep seeing her.”
