A Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant intern provided help to a local man, demonstrating a core principle of the workforce—I investigate conditions that do not appear correct.

“I could tell there was something not quite right about this gentleman near me,” said Claire Ackley of her fateful trip to a gas pump in Pueblo Aug. 11. “He was staring off into space.”

Ackley said she ran to him after observing the left side of his face become droopy and his left arm going limp.

“I laid him on the ground and made sure he was breathing before I started screaming for help,” Ackley said.

When nobody came to assist, Ackley said she called 911 and stayed with the man until paramedics arrived.

“Thankfully, I’m in the medical field and I knew what to do,” Ackley said. “With a stroke patient, time is critical.”

Ackley said the paramedics said they believed the stroke patient would have a good prognosis due to her quick response.

“Go with your gut instinct if you believe something doesn’t seem right,” she said. “It never hurts to ask someone if they’re okay. Even if you don’t know what to do, you can always get help.”

“I am not surprised that Claire was able to identify a potential problem and then to respond. She is very observant,” said Dan Bird, project medical services manager, PCAPP. “Seeing something that doesn’t seem right and quickly analyzing the data is part of emergency medicine.”

Ackley is a nursing student at Colorado State University-Pueblo who assists part-time in the PCAPP Medical Clinic.