By Patrick Baron

BLOOMINGTON – As a result of an employee going into cardiac arrest several months ago, a Bloomington car dealership is training its staff how to perform CPR and use an automated external defibrillator, or AED.

20-year-old Jordan Turner went into cardiac arrest while preparing a car for delivery at the O’Brien Kia dealership on Morrissey Drive. Immediately two of his co-workers, Jeromy Williams and Cathy Napoline, leapt into action, with Jeromy doing chest compressions and Cathy administering breathing.

Napoline said in hindsight, Turner collapsing in the shop likely saved his life.

“There’s a big field in the back where we keep all the cars, and I know Jordan had just pulled a car up to wash it,” Cathy explained. “So I really think, in a sense, it was his lucky day because he could have been back in that field and nobody would have seen him. So I think with the timing, somebody was looking out for him.”

For Turner, the experience was like falling asleep and waking up in the hospital. He explained if his co-workers didn’t act quickly, the outcome may have been vastly different.

“I’m extremely grateful for them and them being there,” Turner said. “I couldn’t have been more lucky for them to be right there.”

Turner returned to work about a month after the incident, and now works as a salesman for O’Brien.

Partnering with the Red Cross, 75 percent of O’Brien’s staff will be taught CPR, and four defibrillators will be installed in each of the Bloomington-Normal dealerships. Turner said he’s eager to get his training.

Patrick Baron can be reached at [email protected].