Bystander who helped save woman found overdosed in Marquette Park says more safety upgrades there are needed
A woman's life was saved at Marquette Park over the weekend thanks to a group of bystanders who found her lying unconscious by the lagoon.
Now, one of them says the incident is why the park needs safety upgrades.
Eddie Guillen showed the exact spot where he came across a frightening scene on Saturday afternoon—an unknown woman lying unconscious with her arm in the lagoon.
"It was scary because her eyes had rolled back, we were trying to call her, 'Hey, we're going to get you some help,'" he said.
He says he was not sure how long she had been there, but from Guillen's previous hospital job, it appeared she had overdosed. He called 911, and Chicago police officer, Diaz, came out quickly.
"He applied Narcan, and within 30 seconds she was up and breathing," Guillen said.
He says when the Chicago fire department got on scene, he was told five minutes later, and the woman probably would not be alive. This had Guillen, who is the executive director at the nonprofit Community Innovation Center, thinking about how this response could have been more efficient in a 300-acre park.
Guillen says it was a hurdle to get first responders to the exact location. He says that with no markers or emergency call boxes in the park, it's hard to tell them where to go. A change he wants to make going forward.
"Just a phone, directed to 911, and maybe it directs you to spot number 13 or 15."
Guillen says he plans to work with the Chicago Park District to try to get call boxes across universities.
While he would love to see free Narcan across parks, most importantly, he wants others to take initiative and not ignore an uncomfortable situation that could have cost this woman her life.
"Families are walking by with a dog, and little kids are seeing this. Like, that's a thing, like how can we do better?" he asked.