Nah.
It was a good thing Elvis had not left the building.
In this case, “Elvis” was Claudio Palma, a San Francisco doctor, dressed as the King of Rock and Roll. And “the building” was Burger Bar at Mandalay Place. After marrying his fiancée on the second mile of the Las Vegas Marathon Sunday, he took her for an after-race lunch. Just as he started to really throw himself into the role of Elvis and savor a juicy buffalo burger with bacon, Palma had to mentally don his white coat to save a woman’s life.
A fellow marathon runner — Palma doesn’t know her name — collapsed at the back of the restaurant when the doctor/runner/Elvis impersonator was mid-chew. His wife, Rhanee Palma, saw the woman lying on the floor and said, “Claudio, go!”
And he did. Wearing an Elvis jumpsuit, sideburns, scarf and running shoes. As he hurried over, Rhanee shouted, “My husband’s a doctor.”
“I said it because, you know, people think the runners dressed as Elvis might be crazy,” she says.
All day, as they ran the half-marathon, the newlyweds joked that someone would get injured and Palma, 36, would have to administer medical aid.
Something happened. Palma had to administer medical aid.
The unknown 40-ish year-old woman, a diabetic, fainted and hit her head. Palma ran to her side. An emergency room nurse who was also in the restaurant came over to help, but doctors outrank nurses, so the responsibility fell on Palma.
The woman was bleeding from the mouth and head, had no pulse and was out cold. He applied a painful level of pressure to her jaw, but she didn’t respond.
Palma is an anesthesiologist. He knows how to revive people. Born in Chile and raised in the states, he became a doctor to help others. Anytime something like this happens and blood is in the mix, there’s a millisecond where you flinch, Palma says. You’re in the field with no gloves, no masks or protective shields. You know you’re about to possibly expose yourself to hepatitis, HIV, something communicable and/or incurable. Then you do it anyway, he says.
In this case, the woman’s husband stood by. He gave Palma a quick history and Palma gave her CPR.
It worked. She came to. She freaked out. Elvis was kissing her.
Marathon Elvis helps fellow runner – News – ReviewJournal.com.
