INL Workers honored for saving dying man on bus ride home from work

Idaho Falls, ID—On Thursday, Oct. 15, at the end of a long workweek, the calm and professional response of a group of Idaho National Laboratory (INL) colleagues helped save the life of an INL employee who was travelling home on a company bus. INL’s Bus 507 was arriving in Idaho Falls at 6:13 p.m. when passengers Mitchell (Monte) Anderson and Eric Clarke heard the labored, erratic breathing of a friend and co-worker, Roger Stoddard. When they tried to wake Stoddard and found he was unresponsive, and had no pulse, Clarke kept Stoddard’s airway open while Anderson started CPR. After a couple minutes of chest compressions, Stoddard began breathing and opened his eyes, but he wasn’t out of the woods yet--his breathing stopped again, and he required repeated cycles of CPR and revival.

When an ambulance arrived, paramedics took over performing CPR, moved Stoddard on a backboard and moved him into the ambulance. While they transported him to the hospital, medical responders used a defibrillator to restart his heart. At the hospital, another defibrillator was needed to keep his heart beating until he was finally stabilized.

Bus passenger Lance Briggs was among those who pitched in to help when the medical emergency occurred. Passenger Nathan Burt called 911 to make sure an ambulance was on its way. “All of these co-workers were instrumental in helping ensure that Roger was kept alive, and that no one else was hurt in getting him off the bus and on to the ambulance,” Briggs said. “Truly a team effort."