December 31, 2019 was not just another New Year’s Eve for Kim Giese, RN, a staff nurse in the Center for Critical Care at Princeton Medical Center (PMC). She was working out that afternoon at Princeton Fitness & Wellness Center when a man exercising on a nearby treadmill suddenly collapsed.
Giese quickly rushed over. The man was unresponsive and had no pulse. Giese immediately began administering CPR. Meanwhile, a few miles up the road, Plainsboro police Cpl. Joseph Breyta was getting the call: An individual at the fitness center had gone into cardiac arrest.
Prepared for the worst, Breyta and other first responders arriving at the scene were pleasantly surprised to learn the man was conscious and had regained a pulse, thanks to Giese’s intervention. He was taken to PMC – which is adjacent to the fitness center – and later fully recovered.
Breyta began planning in early 2020 to present Giese with a Life Saving Award from the Plainsboro Township Police Department, but COVID-19 and other complications delayed the presentation.
Finally, on March 24, Breyta was able to hand the award to Giese during a reception in the Schreyer Education Center at PMC, mere yards away from the fitness center.
“I only did what I think anyone in this room would have done,” said Giese, who, like all nurses at PMC, must maintain certification in CPR. “I just happened to be the one who was there.”
The socially distanced reception was attended by some of Giese’s co-workers, Breyta and four additional police officers, nursing leaders from Critical Care and across Princeton Health, and senior managers such as CEO James Demetriades and Reina Fleury, chief human resources officer.