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 Blog Post

Grinnell, Blair Honored for Saving a Life

Tags: Albion
June 04, 2019 12:00 AM
By: DOC Staff

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On May 30, SCI Albion Superintendent Michael Clark presented Albion Key Awards to CO1 Donald Grinnell and RN Sandra Blair for their role in saving a stranger's life.

On May 11, Grinnell and Blair came upon a vehicle that appeared to have been in an accident and stopped to see if anyone needed assistance. They found a gentleman in the vehicle who was in cardiac arrest due to respiratory failure. Blair immediately recognized he was agonal breathing, which is the last breaths your body takes before death. They called 911, pulled the victim out of the vehicle and started CPR. They brought him back several times before the ambulance arrived and emergency responders took control. Narcan was administered and he responded. If Blair and Grinnell had not taken the necessary steps to keep his heart beating, he would have died.

Grinnell started at SCI Albion on March 31, 1994. He is very involved as a volunteer firefighter and has been a past Fire Emergency Response Team (FERT) leader. He recently received a certificate for his 25 years of service with the DOC.

Blair started working at SCI Albion on September 3, 2013, as a floor nurse, and she has most recently become our infectious disease nurse. She grew up in Buffalo, NY, and moved to Pennsylvania in 1993. Before coming to the DOC, she worked as a telemetry and dialysis nurse at Meadville Medical Center.

In addition, this power couple are planning a wedding on June 24.


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