HomeMy WebLinkAboutSpartanNash Award
City of Edina 4801 W. 50th St. Edina, MN 55424
Contact: Debbie Townsend, Communications Assistant
Phone 952-826-0396 dtownsend@EdinaMN.gov EdinaMN.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
City Honors SpartanNash Workers for Saving Man’s Life
Edina, Minn., March 8, 2017 – The Edina Fire-Rescue & Inspections and Police departments honored 16
employees of SpartanNash for their quick action that saved a co-worker’s life earlier this year. Each person
received a City of Edina Public Safety Certificate of Merit plaque during a Friday, March 3, ceremony at
SpartanNash’s offices on France Avenue.
About 1 p.m. Jan. 11, a 54-year-old employee collapsed without warning while working at his desk. His co-
workers reacted quickly, determining he was not breathing and did not have a pulse. While paramedics were
en route, the co-workers started CPR and retrieved an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED). The
SpartanNash team quickly used the AED to deliver three shocks to the unconscious man.
Those efforts resulted in him regaining a pulse. He continued to improve as he was transported to the
hospital, where he went into surgery for a life-saving procedure.
“The actions these people took really changed the course of this individual’s future,” Edina Fire Chief Tom
Schmitz said before handing out the honors along with Edina Police Chief Dave Nelson. Schmitz noted that
few people who lose a pulse and stop breathing outside of a hospital setting are revived successfully.
The man has recovered and returned to work. He and his wife quietly watched Friday’s ceremony from the
back of the room.
“The City of Edina is grateful to SpartanNash for providing CPR training to their employees,” Schmitz said.
SpartanNash is a grocery wholesaler headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, but with corporate offices in
Edina. CPR and other emergency response training is voluntary, said SpartanNash Executive Vice President of
Legal Kathy Mahoney, but many people sign up.
“We just want to thank you and tell you how grateful we are,” Mahoney told the 16 employees at the
ceremony in front of about 200 SpartanNash workers.
One of those 16 employees who took the training, Office Services Supervisor Margaret Jenkins, was called
from her office that January day for the emergency.
“When I got there, he just wasn’t alive,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins described the roles of those 16 employees during the eight minutes they treated the man while
waiting for paramedics. She and others did chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth breathing. Someone
grabbed the defibrillator. A person was on the phone with the 911 dispatcher, relaying what was happening so
the paramedics would know when they arrived. Other people held open the elevator doors, kept onlookers
away and cleared hallways to ensure the man could be taken quickly to the ambulance.
Fire Capt. Ryan Quinn and his crew who responded that day were in attendance at the ceremony to
acknowledge those employees. Many of the honored employees were bashful about receiving the certificates.
Like Jenkins, most of them just reacted to the emergency and did what they could to help.
City of Edina 4801 W. 50th St. Edina, MN 55424
“To know that that man in this building was not alive and to look across and
see him today, standing there, is cool,” Jenkins said. “It’s amazing what one
person can do.”
The 16 SpartanNash employees receiving Public Safety Certificates of Merit:
Brad Willert Linda Havlicek
Luke Garafola Elizabeth Hannem
Mardell Cummings Lauren Bartos
Gary Renteria Kelly Foxen
Nicole Farrelly Ben Bercaw
Bismarck Vergara Holly Walton
Kari Dorsher Margaret Jenkins
Jodi Rust Rhonda Froehlig
For more information on the City of Edina, visit EdinaMN.gov.
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