Group of nurses helps Shrine Bowl referee who collapsed during game

FARGO, N.D. — Three nurses attending the Shrine Bowl sprang into action Saturday when a referee collapsed on the field.

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It was just before halftime when the game suddenly stopped and an announcer said medical help was needed on the field, KLVY reported.

Andrea Jackson, a nurse for 20 years, was the first nurse in the stands to reach the field and started providing life-saving techniques.

“I immediately checked for a pulse and started CPR,” Jackson said. “There were a couple of other nurses with me and we just did what we needed to do and I think it was just more of a reaction at this point.”

Brittany Koch, who works as an emergency room nurse, was at the game to support her husband, a coach.

“All I could think of was getting to this man and doing whatever I could to help save him because he wasn’t getting back up,” Koch told KLVY.

They used a defibrillator and applied chest compressions. The game official eventually showed movement.

Shrine Bowl officials said the referee is in the hospital in stable condition and doing well.

“Critical thinking skills just jump into action,” Shannon Malard, who also helped, told KLVY. “It doesn’t matter where you are, whose around you, you just do what you have to do and you just start with your basic ABC’s.”

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