Retired professor of nursing saves life at Pittsburgh restaurant

Three nurses and an anesthesiologist walk into a restaurant. It sounds like the beginning of a joke, but what unfolded that day in November was anything but. Instead, it was about being in the right place at the right time.

Dottie Mathers, a retired critical care nurse and professor of nursing at Penn College for nearly 30 years, was celebrating 49 ½ years of marriage with her husband, Dan, when things took an unexpected turn at a Pittsburgh dining establishment.

Dottie Mathers

The couple was enjoying a church-sponsored “marriage weekend” with friends, one of whom was also a retired critical care nurse. While waiting for a table that evening, a doctor was requested to assist a person in distress. The nurse duo didn’t think twice, immediately offering their aid to a diner who was unconscious after a piece of meat became stuck in her throat. Bystanders’ attempts to dislodge the food with a blind sweep had lodged it even further in the individual’s airways, and the situation was dire.

“The person that had been eating there was on the floor, and there were bystanders attempting to help her – I’m not sure what they were doing,” the emeritus faculty member said. “The client had choked on her food, and they had tried the Heimlich maneuver, which was not successful. By the time we got to her, she was unconscious and not breathing.”

The nurses began administering CPR, taking turns completing compressions. They requested an automated external defibrillator to prepare to shock the patient to bring back her heart rhythm, but the device was not available. A third critical care nurse – also dining at the restaurant – was able to assist with a device to suction out the food, while an anesthesiologist prepared to cut into the patient’s throat.

Fortunately, the ad hoc medical team was able dislodge the food and, after a few more rounds of CPR, was able to get a pulse back. Shortly before the arrival of first responders, the patient began breathing on her own. She was intubated to protect the airways from possible swelling, and, to Dottie’s knowledge, was expected to recover.

“I was ecstatic – that’s not always the outcome,” she said. “It was a good feeling. I felt privileged to have been there for sure. It’s a reminder to always be prepared. This is a good reason to know CPR. I was just in the right place at the right time.”