Apollo CPR training saves life at Kennewick gas station

CPR training for Apollo workers paid off with a life saved in Kennewick earlier this month.

Craig Wiles of Prosser usually does not stop at a Kennewick gas station on his way to work. But he borrowed gas cans from another project and found they were empty.

As he was leaving the station the driver of the truck behind him called out for help. A passenger in the truck had stopped breathing.

Wiles pulled the man from the passenger seat and started cardiopulmonary resuscitation. After several rounds of chest compressions, the man started breathing again.

But the man again stopped breathing, and Wiles resumed compressions until paramedics arrived. They used an automated external defibrillator on the man before taking him to a hospital.

The driver called the next day to say that his passenger had suffered cardiac arrest, but was alive.

“It’s crazy how fast these things happen,” Wiles, a mechanical foreman, said in a statement. “I’m just glad my training kicked in and the guy is OK.”

Apollo Mechanical Contractors in Kennewick has all supervisors take in-house first aid and CPR training that meets American Red Cross standards, said the company.

This story was originally published March 30, 2016 at 12:20 PM with the headline "Apollo CPR training saves life at Kennewick gas station."