THOMASVILLE — As a nurse practitioner in behavioral health by trade, it was her Red Cross training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation that Michelle Fan relied on one day at Publix.

With her CPR skills, and Publix’s nearby automated external defibrillator, Wayne Martin survived a cardiac event last September. Because of her actions, Fan was awarded the Red Cross Certificate of Merit on Monday morning.

“I was in the store shopping and I heard a commotion,” Fan recalled. “And I heard someone saying, ‘get back.’”

Fan also heard Martha Martin call out her husband’s name. 

“I honestly felt the push to go see,” Fan said. “When I came around the corner, Mr. Martin was on the ground, laying flat on this back.”

Fan asked if anyone had called 911 and was told the call had been placed. 

Fan felt for Martin’s pulse, but there wasn’t one. She felt for breath and couldn’t feel any.

A Publix employee asked if the AED, or automated external defibrillator, should be brought over. Fan said yes, and she started chest compressions. 

It was also the first time Fan had performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation chest compressions on a person. 

“It had always just been training,” she said. “I just started doing the compressions.”

Less than a minute later, the AED was brought over and hooked up to Martin. The AED said a shock indicated, meaning, Fan said, either there was no heart rate or it was so sporadic it could not be detected. 

They stood back, and the AED shocked Martin. His pulse came back and EMTs, who were there quickly, took Martin to the hospital.

The Martins went to Publix to get a birthday cake for a daughter-in-law who had a birthday the next day, and a cheesecake for a grandson who had a birthday in two days. 

In tow was their 10-year-old granddaughter. They were getting her a cookie for having a good day at school.

“I remember walking up and looking at the birthday cake and cheesecake and when I turned back around to look at them again, that was last thing I remember,” Wayne Martin said.

“I was scared to death,” Martha Martin said. “I didn’t know what to think. I was shaking him, trying to get him awake.”

Wayne Martin said he didn’t remember collapsing.

“Until they got me into the ambulance, I didn’t know anything,” he said. “I don’t even remember falling.”

“God just looked after us,” his wife said. “It was traumatic. It was scary. But the Good Lord blessed us.”

Once he got to the emergency room, the doctor asked him if he thanked the lady who saved his life.

“I said, ‘what lady?’” Martin responded. “He said, ‘you need to go back and thank her.’”

Martha Martin asked for Fan’s name before her husband was put into the ambulance. Later, she looked her up on Facebook and discovered she knew Fan’s parents from a previous employer.

Once he got out of the hospital, Martin went back to Publix to thank the employee who brought over the AED.

Shane Sadler, the grocery manager, applied the AED, and Tim Reaves, the bakery manager, also was on hand.

Pamela Sanders, the Thomasville Publix store manager, said there is a staff member who is trained as a first responder available whenever customers are in the store and even when it is just employees in the building. 

Even though it was her first time applying CPR to someone in need and not in a training environment, the training ingrained in her kicked in and took over, Fan said. 

“You have to have the training to know, in that moment, you just have to act,” she said. 

Spencer Stelljes, regional manager of American Red Cross training services, said for every minute that goes by, there is a 10% decrease in the chance of survivability for that individual.

“That stat truly illustrates how a trained person like Michelle, who is at the scene, can make the difference,” he said.