Chris Orcutt, Writer

This morning, while partaking of my daily coffee at the Millbrook Diner and making notes for that day's writing, I was interrupted by an old woman shouting, "Call 911!"

In the booth across from mine, an old man was slumped over and a couple of people were taking his pulse.

This was a job for...

HELPERMAN!

Jumping out of my seat, I rushed to the stricken old-timer and asked what pain he was feeling. He said his entire chest felt tight. He was having trouble breathing. Just as Helperman thought: a possible coronary thrombosis, a.k.a. myocardial infarction, a.k.a. heart attack.

Baby Aspirin: The panacea for heart attack victims.

A former Boy Scout, Helperman took charge of the situation, moving the tables out of the way and making the old man lie down on the long bench seat at the end of the diner. A waitress brought a cool, damp cloth for the stricken man's forehead. Helperman then ran down the street to Vincent's Pharmacy and purchased a bottle of adult low-dose aspirin (a.k.a. "baby" aspirin).

Aspirin alone has its greatest impact on improving survival among patients with heart attacks. Numerous studies have shown that aspirin reduces mortality (by 25%) when given to patients with heart attacks. Aspirin is easy to use, safe at the low doses used for anti-platelet action, fast acting (with an onset of action within 30 minutes), and cheap. Aspirin is given at a dose of 160 mg to 325 mg immediately to almost all patients as soon as a heart attack is recognized.

Not having any cash, and not wanting to waste a second, Helperman dropped his credit card and ran out, tearing open the package on his way back to the restaurant. The man's wife gave him one of the aspirin and we waited for the ambulance to arrive. It was there in five minutes.

I mention all of this not to brag but because it reminded me that despite how predictable Life may seem, we never know what's going to happen. I've sat in that diner for thousands of hours and not once have I encountered a situation like this. And since it was the most exciting thing to happen to me in months, I thought it was worth sharing here.

It's also a nice feeling to know that when the sh-t hits the fan, you remember what you learned. Say what you want about the Boy Scouts, but their motto is "Be Prepared," and part of being prepared is knowing how to act in emergencies.

This experience also made me appreciate even more what my uncle, Paul Knowlton, does for a living. He's a paramedic in Bangor, Maine, and situations like the one I dealt with are routine for him. How he does this stuff without having a heart attack himself, I'll never know.

In case you're wondering, I left the bottle of baby aspirin at the diner.

And if you're interested in reading about the earlier adventures of Helperman, click here.