Freshmen have a variety of experiences their first week of college, but witnessing a medical emergency is one that Nancy Padgett and Kati Osborne never expected.
Padgett and Osborne had finished an honors freshman orientation class Monday at about 3:20 p.m. They were sitting near Haley Center when they noticed a middle-aged man fall near Little Hall.
"He got up right away and said 'I'm okay,'" Osborne said.
He then took a few more steps before falling again. He wasn't moving and his face was in the dirt, she said.
"At first we didn't know what to do or who to call," Osborne said. Being new to campus, Osborne and Padgett didn't know how to tell an ambulance to get to the scene, which has no traffic access.
When a Successfully Orienting Students tour guide saw the man, he called Emergency Medical Services.
An ambulance arrived and paramedics performed CPR and used an automatic external defibrillator to try to resuscitate the man.
After initial medical care, the man was taken to the East Alabama Medical Center for further medical treatment.
A large crowd of students gathered at the scene and stood transfixed as paramedics cared for the injured man.
"This is scary," Osborne said. "I haven't even been here for a week yet and this happens."
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