COLCHESTER, Vt. -
A nurse in California refused CPR to an 87-year old woman who later died. The call for help can be hard to listen to.
911 Dispatcher: "Is there anyone there who will step in and not let this woman die?
Nurse: "Not at this time."
A 911 dispatcher practically pleads with a nurse to perform CPR or find someone else who can.
911 Dispatcher: "Is there anybody who works there who is willing to do it? Are we just going to let this lady die?"
Nurse: "Well, that's why we are calling 911."
Dispatcher: "We can't wait, she can't wait right now. She is stopping breathing."
The call goes on for seven minutes.
"Every minute that goes by without with help your chances of survival decrease by 10 percent," says Tina Zuk, with the Vermont American Heart Association.
The woman who collapsed at this Bakersfield independent living facility, 87 year old Lorainne Bayless, is now dead.
"I think what's hitting everyone so hard is that nobody tried," said Zuk
She says no matter what you should always try to preform CPR, "Even if someone doesn't know CPR, anything that they do to try and help is better for the person than the other outcome, we saw in this case."
In Vermont it's against the law to just stand by, there's a 100 dollar fine. Also, there is a protection in place to encourage people to step in.
"We have a Good Samaritan law, and the reason it's here is so that if you're trying to do the right thing, trying to save someone's life, you can't be sued for civil penalties," said Zuk.
To learn more about CPR training head to the American Heart Association at http://www.heart.org
