RIT biomedical sciences student assists neighbor with CPR

Rochester Institute of Technology biomedical sciences student Cassandra Kehler and her housemate were on their way to statistics class on Oct. 7 when they heard a neighbor in distress in their off-campus community.

Kehler’s medical calling kicked in. She jumped out of the car and ran toward the middle-aged woman who was screaming for help. 

The woman’s sister lay unconscious in her driveway. Another neighbor, a medical doctor, reached her first and, finding no pulse, asked Kehler if she could help administer CPR.

The RIT Women's Hockey player had broken her wrist the week before during a game, but that did not hold her back. She knew basic life support skills and was capable.

"I was very calm," said Kehler, who is from Vancouver, British Columbia. "I was, like, this needs to get done now. I'm a division one athlete. My cardio is very good. I'm quite strong and capable. My wrist will heal and this woman’s life is on the line." 

Kehler, a second-year RIT Honors student, is in the Pre-Health Professions Advising Program and wants to be a pediatrician. Through the College of Health Sciences and Technology’s clinical health career fair, Kehler made connections that led to a volunteer opportunity at Highland Hospital. This allows her to gain clinical experiences required by medical schools. “My volunteering at Highland Hospital brought me into a clinical setting where I am able to continue to learn.”

Kehler said anyone with CPR training would have helped and the value is shared among students and faculty in the biomedical sciences program. It’s about community and supporting people, she said. “Biomedical sciences at RIT exemplifies the idea of compassion and caring for more than just yourself.” 

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Mikaela Engstrom/RIT Athletics

Rochester Institute of Technology biomedical sciences major Cassandra Kehler plays defense for RIT’s Women’s Hockey team.

Other RIT students on the scene that afternoon called 911 and supported Kehler. “I was calm, in large part, because of the quick thinking and bravery of my fellow RIT athletes, Kolbee Ashe, Karly Kolssak, and Morgan Nichter, who also stopped at the sight of the incident, eager to help.”

Kehler’s ability to continue CPR for 11 minutes until the firefighters arrived on the scene enabled the first responders to defibrillate the woman’s heart and recover a pulse before putting her on the ambulance.

“I waited until the ambulance left, and then it was like, ‘Oh my God, that just happened,’” Kehler said.  

She called her dad, a firefighter in Canada, to tell him the news. “One thing he always said that kind of stuck with me is a lot of people do nothing because they’re worried they’re going to do it wrong. He’s an advocate for CPR training because you never know when you need to know it. It’s a life skill." 

Kehler later learned that a brain bleed led to the woman’s cardiac arrest. She had remained in a coma for a week before dying, and her family had time to visit her in the hospital.

“A group of us went to drop off flowers at their house when we found out that she didn’t make it,” Kehler said. “I was in shock. I told myself that I did the best that I could, which I knew I did, but that didn’t make it any less hard.” 

The experience has inspired Kehler to earn her CPR teaching certification and to become an advocate on campus. She is already planning to arrange CPR training post-season for her teammates on the women’s hockey team.

Kehler got the idea of becoming an advocate from a sticker on the side of the ambulance that read, “Save a life, learn CPR.”  

“Preparation brings confidence. And there’s so much strength in being prepared,” Kehler said. “I’m not a hero. I’m a regular person. I was just prepared, and you can be, too."