A person’s chance of survival drops between seven and 10 percent every minute once they experience sudden cardiac arrest, according to the American Heart Association.    

911 Center Operations Manager Jill Spence was simply helping relieve her coworkers of calls as “they were slammed” one day, she said. But when a call came through about a sudden cardiac arrest event, Spence knew what to do.    

Spence said the call began with a woman detailing how her husband had “just collapsed right in front of her,” and right away Spence said she could hear agonal breathing, an atypical type of breathing that occurs when the brain is not receiving enough oxygen, in the background.    

“When you hear that breathing—it kind of sounds like a snoring noise—you know that CPR is needed,” Spence said.    

Immediately, she began to lead the woman through CPR, helping her count and providing words of encouragement.    

“She did CPR the whole time—she was good,” Spence said. “I know it gets tiring, and to watch on the map the units responding and how long it’s taking them, it feels like an eternity. But she kept at it.”   

A deputy from the Sheriff’s Office was on the scene soon with an automated external defibrillator (AED). Other units then arrived to assist the man.   

When the call ended, Spence said she asked the 911 Center’s training coordinator to follow up with the man because she had a feeling that “he was just going to make it.”    

“I can’t explain it, but I just had this feeling he was going to make it,” she said.    

She received confirmation later that the man had survived.   

In December 2022, the 911 Center had a Tree of Life mural painted on the wall to give the hard-working public safety telecommunicators support and recognition for their service. Employees can place a leaf on the tree with their names when they have saved a life or delivered a baby, both “once-in-a-lifetime experiences,” Spence explained.

911 Center Operations Manager Jill Spence was recognized by EMA Director Tom Cisco for her life-saving actions.

So far, the Tree of Life has four names on bright green leaves, with Spence’s name being the latest addition.    

Spence said placing her name on the mural felt “very cool and rewarding.”   

She said she’s always known she wanted to work in public safety and make an impact on her community.   

“My whole family is in public safety, so I knew I wanted to do something serving and making an impact in the community—helping people in some form,” Spence said.  

While Spence said she feels a sense of accomplishment and pride seeing her name on the Tree of Life, knowing she directly helped save a person’s life, nothing is more rewarding to her than empowering people on their worst days.    

“When people call us, it’s usually a bad day—might even be their worst day. I like to empower people who, on their worst days, feel like they can’t do something,” she said. “I am there to encourage them and tell them how to do it, offer support and help them see they are a strong enough person to get through it.”   

It was Spence’s quick thinking, encouragement and leadership in helping the woman begin CPR that helped save a Forsyth County citizen’s life.    

In the future, public safety telecommunicators will have the added assistance of 300 AEDs located throughout Forsyth County thanks to the partnership between Avive Solutions, Inc., Forsyth County public safety departments, Northside Hospital Forsyth and Central EMS.   

Forsyth County is the among the first three communities in the nation involved in Avive’s 4 Minute City Program, which aims to give everyday people the tools to offer sudden cardiac arrest victims quick lifesaving help with AEDs before EMS arrives at an emergency.    

According to Spence, Forsyth County is “still a rural county, but we are a growing county that’s getting busier.”   

“If we put more AEDs out there in the county, our survival rate is going to go up tremendously,” she said.  

Spence also said the trajectory of her call would have changed with the 4 Minute City Program.    

“I could have had an AED on scene faster than it took the deputy to arrive,” Spence said. “That would have relieved the woman from continuing to do CPR.”   

“It’s going to be interesting and awesome to see how the 4 Minute City can help our survival rate,” she said. “I’m very intrigued by it.”    

To learn more about the 4 Minute City Program in Forsyth County, click here. https://avive.life/forsyth/