Man uses CPR technique he learned from The Office to save woman's life
Auto mechanic Cross Scott never had any formal CPR training — but the comedy taught him all he needed to know
There are plenty of reasons to watch the legendary TV comedy The Office, but learning how to save someone's life is not normally one of them.
Still, a Tucson, Ariz., woman who went into cardiac arrest earlier this month may have the show to thank after a nearby mechanic practiced a CPR method he learned while watching the show.
According to the Arizona Daily Star, Cross Scott was test driving a customer's car when he saw a white sedan with its hazard lights on and slowly rolling forward; as he drove by, he saw a woman slumped over the steering wheel.
He pulled in front of the sedan, stuck a rock under the front wheel, banged on the window to try to wake the woman up, and eventually broke the window with a rock.
He didn't have his phone with him so couldn't call 911, but eventually another woman pulled over and was able to call for help.
In the meantime, the 21-year-old mechanic reclined the woman's car set, leaned over her, and started doing chest compressions — which he learned while watching The Office.
In the now-classic episode, a CPR trainer comes to the Dunder Mifflin office, and what ensues is mostly a lesson in what not to do during a medical emergency.
But at one point manager Michael Scott (Steve Carell) sings the Bee Gees disco hit while doing chest compressions on a dummy, and Cross — who coincidentally has the same last name as the Carell character — had the scene, and the song, going through his head as he followed suit.
"I've never prepared myself for CPR in my life," Scott said. "I had no idea what I was doing."
Within a minute the woman began breathing again. When the paramedics arrived several minutes later, they told Scott he had likely saved her life. After his work day he went to see her at the hospital, but found she had already been released.
"All I could think about was picturing her face," Scott said. "I had to make sure she was OK. That's the only reason why I went to the hospital."
Scott says he would like to finish his high school diploma and go to college, possibly to study engineering — and that he would like to get proper training in CPR.