Reliving a nightmare
Posted on Saturday, January 21, 2006
BELLA VISTA — Coming upon the scene of a motorcycle accident Sunday night, Debra Davis could think only of her husband.
On Nov. 26, Davis’ husband, Terry Davis, died in a motorcycle accident off Interstate 540 near Springdale.
While she wasn’t at the scene of her husband’s accident, she felt she was taken back in time when she stopped to see a stranger lying on a Bella Vista street. "I felt like I was at the scene of my husband’s accident," Davis said.
When Davis stopped, she saw four people standing around the man, later identified as James Stovall. He was lying on the road. "I noticed that he was purple," Debra Davis said. Remembering the CPR training she had learned more than two decades ago, she decided to act. "I rolled him over and … started mouth-to-mouth, and did the chest compressions." Another person, whose identity remains unknown, then offered to perform chest compressions as Davis performed rescue breathing.
She’s unsure if she did any good, but she did notice Stovall gurgling as she and the other person performed CPR.
Paramedics from the Bella Vista Fire Department and deputies from the Bella Vista division of the Benton County Sheriff’s Office soon arrived on the scene. They immediately began treating Stovall.
That’s when Davis noticed blood on her hand, neck and knees. She was advised by police to head home, remove her clothing and take a shower.
Stovall was taken to Northwest Medical Center of Benton County in Bentonville.
Davis went home, cleaned up, then decided to go to the hospital.
When she arrived at the hospital, Davis said, she was told by a nurse that she should have performed chest compressions without rescue breathing in an effort to avoid the risk of infection. Davis said the nurse said it is a recommendation by the American Heart Association.
But officials at the AHA say they never discourage mouthto-mouth resuscitation when it could save a life. "We will always advocate CPR in its entirety," said Terri Clark, communications director for the AHA’s Arkansas office in Little Rock. "That includes mouth-to-mouth resuscitation in its entirety."
According to the AHA Web site, no scientific evidence has shown that acquired immune deficiency syndrome is transmitted by saliva, and the AHA reports no HIV cases that have resulted from CPR. The AHA and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend the procedures advised by the AHA that were released in November 2005, which are available on the AHA’s Web site, http: // www.americanheart. org.
American Red Cross training incorporates the practice of using breathing barriers, such as face shields and resuscitation masks, when performing CPR. The American Red Cross also reports that "while using breathing barriers may reduce the risk of disease transmission when giving breaths, the incidence of disease transmission during direct mouth-to-mouth rescue breathing is very low."
Debra Davis has no regrets about the measures she took — measures that she hopes saved Stovall’s life. "It’s only been seven weeks, and I was just starting to come back into the reality of ‘ life goes on, ’" she said. "It’s like I got to be there for this guy, whereas I wasn’t there when my husband was killed."
She said that, even with the caution issued by the nurse, she would still perform rescue breathing again. "Even though I couldn’t save (my husband), I still need to try and save other people. You can’t save the world, but it’s your responsibility as a human being to do the right thing."
While on Tuesday afternoon, Stovall was in critical condition, by Wednesday his status had been upgraded to serious, according to a hospital official who was unable to confirm Stovall’s status as of Friday afternoon.
Davis would like to meet Stovall’s family, but she has been unable to do so. No family members have been at the hospital, she said. She asks any of Stovall’s family or friends to contact her at 855-4058.
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