By Captain Dave Esparza

Semper paratus (always ready): As members of the Coast Guard Auxiliary, we are trained to react to situations, take charge and make things happen. That is what took place on Feb. 22 at the International Sportsman Exposition (ISE) in Glendale, Ariz...

The circumstances of that day still run through my mind as I think about how that day could have ended for one gentleman. As volunteers, we take time out of our busy schedules to stand watch at events such as this one — to educate the public on safety around the water.

On this particular Saturday, I was supposed to be at a meeting with the rest of my staff, in Tempe. Having discovered that there was no one else available to stand watch at the Expo, I cancelled and rescheduled that meeting. Since there was no longer a meeting, one of my staff officers, Robert Rodriquez, joined me at ISE. This was his first time there, so I decided to give him a tour of the show, taking a break from our booth on the other end of the stadium.

While walking around, we heard a cry for help “medic.” We reacted as we are trained to do and made our way to the sound of the cry for help. Approximately 30 feet away we found a gentleman on the floor, lifeless. We jumped to action and immediately started CPR.

Because of the large crowd that day, the paramedics on call were delayed 20 minutes in making it to our aid. We continued CPR up to the point that they were ready to take over. During the CPR chest compressions that we were administrating, the gentleman came back to life, breathing and kicking on his own.

I received a call the next day from the Glendale Police Department, letting me know that we had indeed saved this man’s life. If we had not been there, and we were not supposed to be, he would not have been alive by the time the paramedics arrived.

Any day that ends with a life saved is a great day. Semper paratus.