Jul. 14—James Spaulding was getting ready to start his shift at the U.S. Cold Storage facility in the Lebanon Business Park a little over a month ago when he heard from another co-worker that Brian Ramirez getting dizzy and blacking out before a pre-shift meeting.

As he lost consciousness, Ramirez fell to the ground, hit his head on the break room floor, and began convulsing. Spaulding attempted to find his pulse — and couldn't.

"I noticed that he was faintly breathing," Spaulding said. "So I took my gear off, told someone to call 911 and then started to pull back Ramirez' gear and began chest compressions."

Employees at USCS wear winter clothes during their shifts as the facility is a large freezer.

Once Spaulding began chest compressions, Ramirez went in and out of consciousness one more time before paramedics arrived, Spaulding said.

Spaulding said he was initially CPR trained during his time with the U.S. Marine Corps. when he was stationed at the Air Force base in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

"Everybody should definitely get CPR trained," Spaulding said. "Anybody in any sort of leadership role or any role should be trained. I even got infant CPR trained when I had my first kid, just to be safe."

Earlier this week, Spaulding was lauded for his efforts to save Ramirez. In a ceremony attended by his co-workers and company officials, Spaulding was presented with the Lifesaving Award, one of the rarest awards the American Red Cross (ARC) bestows.

The award is given to those who, in a time of emergency through life skills or knowledge, save or sustain a life, ARC Regional Philanthropy Officer Amanda Mirani said.

"It's not a small task to save someone's life when there's panic, there's shock and frustration," ARC Senior Regional Philanthropy Officer Brack Rowland said. "[Spaulding] has met all those qualifications. A lot of people here just want to commend you for that."

USCS Senior Vice President Regional Manager Dave Butterfield said it's an honor to have employees step up in times of emergency.

"As a human being, just being able to step up for another is worthy of recognizing," Butterfield said.

USCS is at 415 S. Mt. Zion Road, Lebanon.