He learned CPR as a Scout; more than 40 years later, this happened

As a member of Troop 31 in Traverse City, Michigan, B.J. Wolff remembers learning the basics of CPR while working on the First Aid merit badge.

On that day, he would have learned how to recognize the conditions that must exist before performing CPR on a person, in addition to the proper techniques of the CPR process itself.

Wolff went on to earn the rank of Eagle Scout in 1982. His five brothers also earned the rank of Eagle.

Though he remained connected to Scouting both emotionally (“Scouting had a huge impact on my life,” he says) and through his actions (he served on his local council’s board for many years), the proper techniques of CPR remained tucked away in the deeper recesses of his mind.

Then one day in December 2023, it all came back.

Wolff was finishing up his work for the day at the Traverse City office of Plante Moran, where he is a partner and a certified public accountant, when he heard a colleague cry for help.

Wolff rushed into the office next to his and found one of his coworkers on the floor under a desk, curled up in the fetal position, foaming at the mouth and not breathing. As another coworker called 911, Wolff knew what he had to do.

“It was all instinct,” he says. “It all happened so fast. I just reacted.

“The motto of Be Prepared has always stuck with me in life.”

An important skill for every Scout

The original Boy Scouts of America Handbook, published in 1910, listed 14 “badges of merit.” One of them was called Ambulance, and Scouts who earned it learned how to treat injuries, ailments and medical emergencies that they might encounter both in the outdoors and in everyday life.

The organization’s official merit badge program was launched one year later, and Ambulance was changed to First Aid. Though the requirements have changed over the years — as our knowledge of proper responses to medical emergencies has changed — it has remained one of the most important merit badges ever since. (It even has the same logo as it did in 1911.)

In 2024, it was the most popular merit badge that Scouting America offers.

When Wolff was a Scout, he learned how to treat ailments such as cuts and scrapes, sprained ankles, and blisters, as well as conditions such as hypothermia and dehydration.

He also learned what to do when someone’s heart stops beating.

“I remember practicing rescue breathing, tilting of the head and chest compressions,” Wolff says. “It really stuck in my memory.”

After pulling the man out from under his desk, Wolff checked his pulse.

He wasn’t breathing.

Wolff realized the man was having a heart attack. He began performing rescue breaths and chest compressions.

“Instinct just took over,” Wolff says.

First responders arrived eight minutes later.

A Scout in action

Wolff says the hardest part of the entire ordeal for him came immediately after first responders arrived.

“Doubtful thoughts started to creep into my head,” he says. “Did I do it right? Did I get enough oxygen into his brain? Will he be OK? Did I do more harm than good?”

A short time later, Wolff was visiting the man in the hospital. He would go on to make a full recovery.

For his actions, Wolff received the American Red Cross Certificate of Extraordinary Personal Action.

“I am truly honored,” Wolff says. “It meant a lot to me.”

Click here for the latest information on the First Aid merit badge.

Newspaper scan from the Traverse City Record-Eagle.