LOS ANGELES, Sept. 11, 2019 — The American Red Cross Los Angeles Region honored three student lifeguards with the American Red Cross Lifesaving Award for Professional Responders on Sept. 10 at the UCLA Sunset Canyon Recreation Center. The honorees helped save the life of a man during an allergic reaction earlier this year.
SEE: Photos from Red Cross Lifesaving Award Ceremony
In early January, the three honorees, Margit Maple, Jackson Lieberg and Ted White, helped save the life of a man who experienced an allergic reaction and fell at Sunset Canyon Recreation Center in Los Angeles. The gentleman was swimming in the pool when he had reported to experience an allergic reaction. He exited the pool, walked toward the locker room to address his reaction when he became unconscious, and hit his head on the divider wall. Lifeguards, White and Lieberg, brought the emergency bag along with the backboard into the locker room, while Maple radioed the front desk to alert staff to contact 9-1-1.
“It was almost automatic. We’d trained through so many scenarios so many times that we knew what we were supposed to do,” Maple said. “It made it so even if you were nervous, it didn’t affect your actions and you’re still able to do your job. I felt confident that we could do what we had to do to keep the patient safe."
The survivor was kept stabilized on the ground using c-spine stabilization. Emergency Medical Responders arrived shortly after and continued further treatment.
The Lifesaving Award Presentation was held by the poolside at the UCLA Sunset Canyon Recreation Center with friends and the UCLA staff present. Each honoree received the Lifesaving Award for Professional Responders for acting while on duty. This action exemplifies the highest degree of concern of one human being for another who is in distress. The certificate bears the signatures of the President and CEO of the American Red Cross Gail McGovern and Chairperson Bonnie McElveen-Hunter.
“This is one of the highest awards given by the American Red Cross to an individual or team of individuals who saves or sustains a life by using skills and knowledge learned in a Red Cross Training Services course,” said Julie Thomas, Red Cross Executive Director of the Santa Monica Bay Chapter. “Without a doubt, the skills learned in the American Red Cross Training Services course helped these three heroes in saving a life.”
“It’s definitely worth the time and effort to get trained. If everyone could be CPR certified, I think the world would be a much safer place and everyone would be better off,” Lieberg said.
GET TRAINED Red Cross training gives people the knowledge and skills to act in an emergency and save a life. A variety of online, blended (online and in-person skills session) and classroom courses are available at redcross.org/takeaclass.
NOMINATE SOMEONE People can go to LifesavingAwards.org to nominate and recognize an individual or group of individuals who have used the skills and knowledge learned in an American Red Cross Training Services course to help save or sustain a life.
About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org/la or cruzrojaamericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCrossLA or @CruzRojaLA.