As country music superstar Shania Twain was performing at the Spokane Veterans Arena Saturday night when one of her fans went into cardiac arrest, and both Shania and a phone app take can take a bow for saving a man's life.
Shania was performing on stage when one of her fans in the audience went into cardiac arrest in section 117 Saturday night. When people seated nearby saw the man wasn't breathing, a call went out to 9-1-1 triggering a Pulsepoint alert, notifying more than 40 people inside the arena that their life-saving skills were needed.
It's no coincidence there were a number of off-duty firefighters in the audience to help render aid as Shania had passed out free concert tickets at local fire stations.
“Not only with the Arena as an address but right down to the section and the row and we just happened to have firefighters who were seated in that section,” Spokane Assistant Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer said.
There were 40 people inside the Arena who had downloaded the App to their phones, which will only alert you if you're within a quarter mile of a cardiac arrest. When the alert went out, their phones showed them where the patient was located within the Arena as well as the nearest automated external defibrillator.
“So they responded immediately. a paramedic and one of our retired firefighter lieutenants, who went right to the victim and started rendering aid,” Schaeffer said.